Leading chemists are selling diet pills to children and those suffering from eating disorders, an investigation has found. The £1-a-day slimming pill Alli should only be available over the counter without a prescription to over-18s with a high body mass index.

But the BBC’s Watchdog programme found Boots sold the drug to a schoolgirl online while both Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy sold Alli to a recovering anorexic over the web.

When the drug was sold in branches of the chemists, patients’ height, weight and BMI were checked – and if underweight they were refused the tablets. But online the vetting procedures were much more lax. Applicants were able to lie about their BMI and their purchase was then approved.

Alli prevents the body from absorbing fat in food and in trials helped slimmers lose anything from 10lb to five stone over six months. When confronted with the investigation’s results, Lloyds Pharmacy said it would tighten regulations. But Boots said it ‘could not let the actions of a few’ stop it helping millions of people lose weight and it would not change its policy.

Watchdog launched its investigation after leading eating disorder charity Beat warned Alli was easily available online. It found that Boots sold Alli to a 16-year-old girl who gave her real age but that the Lloyds website turned her away.

Professor Steve Field, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said that Alli interfered with vitamin absorption and so can be dangerous for children.

Boots said: ‘We have taken the isolated incident very seriously. We have reminded our e-pharmacy teams of the checks that they should follow for the sale of pharmacy medicines to ensure we remain vigilant.’ Lloyds Pharmacy said it had introduced ‘additional cross-checks’ to its online service.

If you are concerned about your child buying medicines online, you can prevent them from visiting sites that reference drugs by using Brightfilter Parental Control software. Even with a 15 or 18 profile activated, the drugs category can then also be blocked. Individual URLS can also be blacklisted, so children are unable to visit pharmacy and other drug selling websites.

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