TWO traders have been given a right rocket after pleading guilty at St Helens Magistrates Court to selling fireworks to under-age children.

Both defendants were given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay St Helens Council's costs of £180 in a prosecution brought by the borough's Trading Standards Section.

The case followed a 1996 survey into illegal firework sales within the borough. Ken Wardale, Chief Trading Standards Officer said: "With firework injuries continuing to rise, it is vitally important that illegal sales to children are stopped. These surveys will continue to play a big part in the detection and prevention of such sales."

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