Underage sellers 'cannot be prosecuted'

Retailers who sell 18-rated games and DVDs to underage buyers can no longer be prosecuted due to a recently-discovered loophole, it has emerged.

Dozens of prosecutions under the 1984 Video Recordings Act have been dropped because the Conservative government of the day neglected to notify the European Commission about the law, the BBC reports.

Culture Media and Sport Minister Barbara Follett said: "Unfortunately, the discovery of this omission means that, a quarter of a century later, the VRA is no longer enforceable against individuals in United Kingdom courts."

A department spokeswoman added: "Our legal advice is that those previously prosecuted will be unable to overturn their prosecution or receive financial recompense."

The government said that it hoped to resolve the "unfortunate situation" as swiftly as possible and called on the industry to deal with the situation with "care and sensitivity" to prevent exploitation of the loophole.

It will reportedly take three months for the law to be passed again and for any new prosecutions to be made under the act.

The original omission was apparently found during work on the ongoing Digital Britain project.