TRADING standards in Britain have been weakened due to crippling budget cuts, a government report revealed yesterday.

The study, commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, outlined how trading standards departments now operate with about half the number of staff they employed five years ago.

Enforced reductions in portfolios have meant that many areas have stopped initiatives such as checking for proof of age in shops.

The report said that changes had led to “a relatively weak, and probably diminishing, profile of trading standards, both within the public eye and within the local authority context.”

The report detailed how there had been a shift from prevention to a more reactive approach.

Executive director of consumer rights group Which? Richard Lloyd said the report was extremely worrying.

He said: “Consumers and law-abiding businesses need strong and effective local trading standards services to protect people from rogue traders and loan sharks.”