AN award-winning Lickey End paperboy, who was unintentionally breaking the law after arriving for his daily round 15 minutes too early, wants the rules to be changed.

Last October the Advertiser/Messenger featured Sam Green-Jeffries, who picked up a national News Deliverer Merit award at a glittering awards presentation.

But late last year an anonymous phone call was made to the county council saying the 15-year-old was arriving to work at Vicky’s Convience Store, in Alcester Road, at 6.45am.

A 1963 law states children under 16 can not work before 7am, so Sam was unintentionally breaking the law.

Sam’s boss Vicky Onions said: “He’s been coming in early off his own back, not because I asked him to, because he wanted to do.

“The thing is, I was speaking to a police officer and they said ‘Vicky I didn’t know about this law’.

"I want people to be aware of it.”

Sam won the award for the dedication he has shown including carrying out chores for one of his customers, bed-ridden because of lung cancer.

He said: “I was shocked when I was told.

“Going in at 7am means rushing to get to school now, but I didn’t want to give it up.”

His mum, also named Sam, said she couldn’t believe the store was threatened with court action.

She said: “I know the law is there to protect youngsters, but it is 15 minutes at the end of the day.”

Bromsgrove’s MP, Sajid Javid, said he could see “straight away” the law was not common sense, and went to see Tim Loughton, a junior minister for children and families, asking for it to be reviewed.

He said: “He has written to me to say the government have begun a review.

“We just want to make it a sensible starting time, for example 6.30am.

“I am very supportive of Sam and I know his story resonates with the minister.”