WORKERS at three Southampton shops could face £5,000 fines or six months in prison after being caught illegally selling knives to children.

Police are still considering what action to take against Woolworths, B&Q and Debenhams after staff sold blades to a 15-year-old girl as part of a test purchase operation by police and trading standards officers.

Two members of staff at Woolworths in Woolston have already been interviewed and could face prosecution as part of Hampshire police's Operation Sharp campaign.

The undercover police operation, which took place in Southampton and Portsmouth, was launched following the Daily Echo's campaign to get knives off the streets.

B&Q in Portswood and Debenhams in Southampton city centre were both also named as breaking the law which makes it illegal to sell knives or certain articles with a blade or point to people under the age of 18.

Chief Inspector Andy Bottomley said he was appalled by the results of the latest test purchase and would look into the possibility of bringing charges against the retailers.

Very disappointed' He said: "In the summer we ran a similar operation where knives were sold to a 14-year-old child and we deliberately ran this operation after the increase in the age limit of legally being able to buy a knife.

"I am very disappointed that once again shops have sold knives to under-age people in Southampton, including some very high-profile stores.

"I am at this time considering what action will be taken, including the potential for prosecution. I think it is absolutely awful that despite the constant publicity and the support of the Daily Echo's anti-knife campaign that knives were sold in three out of the six shops visited."

All three companies have told the Daily Echo that they will investigate the selling of knives in the Southampton stores.

A spokesman for Woolworths said that it trains staff on a regular basis and has a till prompt system that questions a customer's age on restricted sales.

He said: "We are investigating the incident in Woolston and reinforcing our policy on age-restricted products to every store colleague."

A B&Q spokesman said: "We do have training and processes in place, and we're investigating as a matter of urgency to see how this might have happened."

A Debenhams spokesman said: "This was an unfortunate mistake made by one of our members of staff and we are currently investigating this incident.

"We take these matters very seriously and have robust procedures in all of our stores to prevent the sale of knives to minors, as well as clear signage to customers."

The undercover operation aimed to see if retailers are upholding the new Violent Crime Reduction Act, which came into force earlier this year.