JUST over one in four underage mystery shoppers were able to buy a knife on Yorkshire’s high streets last year.

From 120 tests in the region across 2017, 26 per cent of stores did not perform an age check and teen shoppers were able to walk free from the store with a potential weapon, according to a new report from Serve Legal.

This figure is much larger than the lowest for the UK which sees London with 18 per cent of stores failing the age-check test. But, this does come from a test sample that dropped from 2016.

Yorkshire’s retailers are some of the worst in the country for selling knives to underage customers with only the Midlands getting a worse pass-rate.

Selling a knife, blade or axe to a person under the age of 18 is illegal in England and Wales. All young people attempting to buy a knife in person should be asked to show official identification.

Overall, the pass-rate across the country dropped by one per cent from 2016 even though retailers have increased their commitment to age-checking with an increase in sample size.

Serve Legal, which undertakes the mystery shopper tests, is calling for harsher penalties for retailers who break the law by selling products, such as knives, to underage customers.

Director Ed Heaver said: “The fact that so many high street retailers and their staff are prepared to take the risk of putting deadly weapons into the hands of young people is proof that the threat of a fine and six months’ imprisonment if convicted is not a punitive deterrent.”