AN ANDOVER mum horrified at the effect of energy drinks on her teenage son has launched an online campaign calling for a ban on sales to under-16s.

Rebecca James, of Leigh Road, was “shocked” when her 15-yearboy returned home from an evening out with friends visibly high on energy drinks.

A n t o n y James was unable to sleep until 4am after he and friends bought and drank numerous high-caffeine products from the Tesco store on River Way.

Rebecca said: “He had four cans in a short space of time while out with friends and came home really wide-eyed and breathing heavily.

“I was extremely worried about him, he was physically shaking and it was horrible.”

Rebecca is putting together a petition which she hopes will lead to a sale restriction on energy drinks.

She said: “It is ridiculous, even a toddler could go in and buy these energy drinks and it has to change.

“There is more caffeine in these drinks than Pro Plus caffeine tablets, yet you have to be over 16 to buy these, so why not the drinks as well?

“My son says that kids drink them at school as well to help them get through the day, but surely a good night’s sleep and breakfast should be able to do that for them.”

Morrisons has become the first supermarket to ban children under the age of 16 from buying highcaffeine drinks, trialling bans in a number of stores.

A spokeswoman from Tesco said: “We do not have a sales restriction policy on energy drinks.

“Energy drinks manufacturers provide information on caffeine content on their packaging, and we recommend that our customers read this carefully before consumption.”

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