A West Belfast shop has had to put an age restriction on the purchase of eggs in their store to combat anti-social behaviour.
Clarke's Spar, at Twin Spires off the Falls Road, said they have had to put the new measure in place to support the local community. Those wishing to purchase eggs in their store must be over the age of 18.
On the eggs aisle in the new store, notices to customers explaining the reasoning behind the restriction have been put up. It follows an increase in incident involving eggs in recent weeks.
READ MORE: Attacks on Belfast Spar 'do not represent' local community says MP
They said: "A note too all customers. To help support our local community and prevent anti-social behaviour, we have put an age restriction on the sale of eggs.
"To purchase eggs, you must be over 18 years of age. Thank you for your co-operations. Team Spar Twin Spires."
Speaking to Belfast Live, a manager at the store said: "Over recent weeks we have noticed anti-social behaviour regarding the use of eggs within the area. We made the decision to restrict the sale of eggs in our store from March, to help prevent this and support our local community.
"We work hard liaising with the local community groups and we support any effort that is made to resolve any anti-social behaviour within the area."
Sinn Féin West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said: "I would commend the owners on this initiative as my fear that eggs thrown at passing traffic could cause an accident. I would also urge young people who are throwing eggs at homes, people or traffic to stop."
West Belfast SDLP representative Paul Doherty said it is unfortunate that local shops have to go to these lengths. He praised youth groups that are working to keep young people out of trouble.
"This shop knows both their customers and the community very well and I am sure it won't cause anyone difficulty that is genuinely looking to purchase food," he told Belfast Live.
"We have seen a rise in anti-social behaviour and eggs have been used to throw at windows of homes and buses. It is unfortunate that shops have to go to these lengths, but as a community, everyone is working together to resolve the issue of anti-social behaviour.
"For example, we are lucky to have some fantastic youth outreach groups such as St Peters who are working with young people daily to make the right choices and stay out of trouble."
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