Following a consultation which closed yesterday, the government has proposed to allow 16 and 17 year olds to continue selling Lottery products after new age restrictions come into force in October this year.

In order to assess the impact of the change on retailers, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) launched a short consultation proposing an approach that would still allow 16 and 17 year old colleagues to sell Lottery products when approved by someone over 18

The proposed solution is similar to the law for the sale of alcohol, and for the sale of tobacco in Scotland.

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The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) chief executive, James Lowman, said: “We welcome the government’s intention to have consistency of regulations across different age restricted products.

“The approved sales mechanism is already well established for the sale of alcohol and sits alongside Challenge 25 as a robust process for minimising the risk of underage sales. Introducing an approved sales mechanism for lottery products is a sensible approach that will allow stores to sell lottery tickets so long as there is an over 18 year old colleague approving sales.”