Almost a quarter of cigarette vendors tested in a sting operation sold tobacco to children, but Oxfordshire County Council is refusing to say which ones.

Oxfordshire Trading Standards has revealed that in the 2011 to 2012 financial year, 37 shops in the county were tested and nine, or 24 per cent, sold cigarettes to someone under the age of 18.

Four pubs with vending machines were also tested, and two allowed underage people to use them.