Council crackdown on fake face mask exemption badges  

The listings posed a serious risk to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and their removal is part of Sutton Council’s on-going efforts to ensure the health and safety of residents.
 
Sutton Council officers worked closely with eBay to remove more than 700 listings. 
 
Among those were about 500 posts for the unlawful sale of UK Government ‘Face Mask Exemption’ badges, with many sellers advertising bulk buys together with messages designed to undermine public health controls.
 
Sutton Council’s Trading Standards team monitors both physical retail premises and online sales to ensure coronavirus health regulations are being followed, as part of their community protection role.
 
Councillor Jayne McCoy, deputy leader of the Council, said: “Sutton Council takes public health extremely seriously and, thanks to the efforts of our Trading Standards Officers, these unlawful badges have been removed from sale.
 
“Profiteering from false exemption badges is a despicably low act and hurts the more vulnerable people who we should all be looking out for.”
 
Using face coverings is a key action that we can all take to stop the spread of coronavirus - even if we don’t have symptoms or think that we have the virus.

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