Police issue warning to shop owners about selling baked beans to kids

Shopkeepers are being urged by police to not sell tins of baked beans to teenagers over a bizarre TikTok trend.

‘Beaning’ sees pranksters smearing the snack onto people’s cars and driveways, filming it and uploading it on the social media app with the hashtag ‘bean bandits’.

The trend is similar to the now old-school ‘egging’ or throwing rolls of toilet paper over trees and bushes outside of people’s homes, mostly seen in the US.

The craze has forced police to issue a warning to shop workers to be aware of youths buying large quantities of cans of beans.

PCSO Michelle Owens from West Yorkshire Police said: ‘It has come to the attention of the police that a new trend has started by groups of youths called “beaning”.

‘This involves youths throwing the contents of a can of beans over properties, very similar to the trend of throwing eggs at properties.

‘If you work in a shop, please can you be aware of youths buying large quantities of cans of beans.

‘If you have children living at home, please be mindful if you see them removing cans of beans from the family home.’

Last month, pranksters rampaged through a Surrey village pouring baked beans and other food onto front doors and cars under the cover of darkness, Surrey Live reported.

Officers confirmed that the baked beans incident happened in Wonersh leaving residents ‘understandably distressed’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.