SHOPKEEPERS are being threatened with jail or heavy fines if they are caught selling fireworks to children as Trading Standards launch a new crackdown.

Officers will be testing to see if shopkeepers are following the law, which says no one aged under 18 is allowed to buy fireworks.

Children younger than the legal age are being sent to try and buy fireworks from shops across the country.

And if any are successful, shopkeepers caught face a six-month jail term or a maximum £6,000 fine.

The test purchasing will be conducted in areas where tip-offs have been received about illegal selling. Last year, just short of a third of shopkeepers tested in Lancashire sold fireworks to juveniles.

Principal officer Steve Brimble, said: "Every year there are complaints about fireworks being set off and affecting elderly people and people's pets.

"On top of that, there are the safety dangers. People setting fireworks off can cause a danger to themselves and a danger to others.

"We have identified that nuisance firework use is by juveniles so we have to get the message across to shopkeepers that they must not sell to the under 18s."