ANTI-KNIFE campaigners have spoken of their disappointment after three north Essex shops sold knives to a teenager.

The Range in Cowdray Avenue, Colchester, QD in Jackson Road, Clacton, and Tesco in Market place, Braintree, failed the Trading Standards test which saw them hand over a blade to a 16 or 17-year-old “mystery shopper”.

The staff involved in the sale of the knife at QD in Clacton are no longer employed by the company.

Anti-knife campaigner Ann Oakes-Odger, whose son Westley was stabbed to death at a Colchester cashpoint in 2005, condemned the stores.

She said: “It is really disappointing shops like the Range have failed to meet this requirement. We have spent a lot of time raising awareness across the board so it is paramount shops set an example in keeping young people and the public safe.

“These shop workers should consider how they would feel if it was someone from their family that paid the price of buying that knife.”

Pat Manning, the chairman of the Clacton Area Crime Prevention Panel, was disappointed to hear the QD store in Rosemary Road, Clacton, failed the test.

She said: “My message to them is that it has got to alert staff to these things and have the authority to ask for identification.”

Trading Standards officials visited 40 stores in Essex between May 26 and June 1 with underage “mystery shoppers”. Five of the stores sold blades to under-18s.

Essex Police is investigating each offence and said it could pursue prosecutions.

Andy Jermy, head of commercial operation at QD, said: “We are very disappointed with what has happened, and we do have a very robust system in place for dealing with age-related sales.

“We have been let down by members of staff. Those individuals are no longer employed by us as a result.”

A Tesco spokesman said the company takes its responsibilities towards the sale of age-restricted products very seriously and had a policy that if customers look under 25, they are asked for identification.

The Range said it would not comment while the investigation is ongoing.