A South London council has blasted a local shop after a staff member who was “not properly trained” and  “sold a vape to a 16-year-old”.

A Greenwich Council officer has recommended a set of conditions to be added to its licence for a newsagent in Woolwich.

The new rules comes after the shop, called Confectionary Box, sold a nicotine vape to a 16-year-old, officers said.

The topic was discussed at a licensing review meeting by Greenwich Council on May 11.

Ian Andrews, head of trading standards for Greenwich Council, said at the meeting: “On this occasion, a 16-year-old volunteer, whose age had been verified through sight of their birth certificate, was able to purchase a watermelon flavoured vape from the product at the premises using cash as verified by a member of staff.”

Mr Andrews said that the shop was visited again on January 19.

He said that no log of shoppers who had been refused was found on this occasion, despite every licensed premises in Greenwich being expected to have one.

Mamadi Diallo, the licence holder for Confectionary Box, said at the meeting that he had never had any previous issues with his licence.

He also said that he was not at the shop on the day of the initial incident.

He said: “This hearing has been called for a violation, that was unfortunate, that happened with my son, a young chap himself, 19-years-old.

"He just came in on that morning and, because staff failed to turn up, I just used him as a temporary bridge to be in the premises while somebody else comes in to relieve him.”

Mr Diallo said his son had been tired from a “very long night’s work” beforehand.

He said that he had not been “properly trained” to work at the shop without an adult present and that his son believed the 16-year-old he sold the product to was old enough to buy it.

Mr Andrews said a set of conditions had been prescribed for the shop which his team felt were proportional to the sale of the vape and the lack of refusals register. Included in the list of conditions are introducing a Challenge 25 policy, keeping a refusals log, and adding a CCTV system to the shop.

Mr Diallo said: “Even though I am not objecting to all of the reviews requested, I just feel it’s a bit unfair and outrageous for me to undergo this kind of a review at a very first violation of not even my licence, but in nicotine trade.”

In response, Mr Andrews said that despite Mr Diallo’s licence regarding the sale of alcohol, the sale of the vape indicated there was a risk that booze could be sold to underage shoppers.

The decision on the licence for Confectionary Box will be revealed by Greenwich Council within five working days.