A CIVIL liberties group last night backed calls for children to be used as ''honey traps'' to catch shopkeepers who continually flout the law.

The move followed what is understood to be the first prosecution of its kind in the UK involving the use of children by trading standards officers in such actions.

A grocer was fined #500 after a 12-year-old girl was sent in to buy fireworks from his shop in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire.

Scottish Office guidelines warn against children being involved in undercover work. However, North Ayrshire Council's principal trading standards officer, Andy Moynihan, who arranged for the child to be used after consulting her parents, claimed he would consider breaking the advice again.

He said: ''We are waging war against shopkeepers who sell cigarettes, alcohol, and fireworks to under-age children. But at the moment one hand is tied behind our back. I know I could be criticised for it but it can all be done professionally.

''I used a child with the full backing of her parents to protect children and I am calling for all restrictions to be dropped.''

Professor Alan Miller, director of the Scottish Human Rights Centre, said: ''We would not oppose this practice in principle as long as certain conditions, such as the action being taken with the consent of the child and his or her parent or guardian, was guaranteed.

''We would also hope in this situation that any child used would look their age and that no kind of deception was used to try and trick the shopkeeper into breaking the law.''

Ramzen Hamed, 35, was fined #500 yesterday for selling fireworks to the girl, aged 12. Trading Standards officials used Harriet McAllister to buy an #11.99 box of fireworks from Hamed at his Shop 'n Save store in Dockhead Street, Saltcoats.

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court was told he did not even question her age, despite it being illegal to sell fireworks to children under 18.

Hamed, of Lesley Street, Pollokshields, Glasgow, admitted breaking the Firework Regulation Act 97 and the Consumer Protection Act, four days before Guy Fawkes night last year. The new legislation - introduced to reduce fireworks-associated hooliganism and injuries - banned the sale of fireworks to anyone under the age of 18. The age limit had previously been 16.

Mr Moynihan carried out an exercise in North Ayrshire warning shopkeepers the 12 year-old girl and a boy, 14 - described as ''teeny tecs'' - were being deliberately sent in. He said Hamed was the only one of 17 shopkeepers who sold any of the youngsters fireworks. The two youngsters were members of North Ayrshire Youth Theatre group.

The shopkeeper was filmed on his in-store video security camera accepting the money. It proved he did not ask Harriet, of Renfrew, any questions about her age.

Mr Moynihan said: ''Greedy shopkeepers are only interested in profit and don't care who they sell to. His (Hamed's) shop was given repeated warnings of what we were doing, but blatantly ignored them.

''This is the first time in Scotland trading standards officers have used a young person like this and our first successful conviction. Without such operations, our job in effectively stamping out under-age selling is impossible.''

Hamed pled guilty yesterday. He apologised outside court for making a mistake and claimed he was deliberately tricked.

He said of the girl buyer: ''She was full of make-up and as tall as I am and I thought she was about 16. I didn't realise the law had been changed to 18. I am not a bad guy and I try and help all my customers.''