A Battersea shopkeeper has had to pay out more than £2,000 for selling cigarettes to children on two occasions just weeks apart.

Vipul Patel, owner of Condell newsagents in Condell Road, was first caught in March this year when a 15-year-old boy bought a packet of 10 cigarettes during a sting operation by Wandsworth’s trading standards team.

He was given a formal caution and attended a training course.

However, two months later a 15-year-old girl was sold a packet of 10 cigarettes in Mr Patel's shop.

Mr Patel pleaded guilty to the offence, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay another £1,281 in prosecution costs and victim surcharge.

The council’s trading standards spokesman Councillor Jonathan Cook said: "Mr Patel has learned a very expensive lesson about the penalties for flagrantly disregarding the law. I hope this serves as a salutary lesson for other shopkeepers in the borough."

Anyone with concerns about cigarettes, alcohol, knives or solvents being sold to children should call 020 8871 7720 or email tradingstandards@wandsworth.gov.uk.