Tesco has launched a bra for girls aged nine as the age girls reach puberty becomes increasingly earlier.

Tesco has developed the bra in partnership with parenting advice website Mumsnet with mothers requesting that the design of the bra should not be remotely sexy.

Tesco clothing design director Jan Marchant said: “Our decision to work with Mumsnet was about reaching out to more parents and asking them directly what they wanted.”

The bra is priced £5 and comes in two styles, a crop top sports bra style and the Fleur First, a non-padded, non-wired style. It is available in stores and online.

Tesco was amongst retailers including Peacocks, Debenhams and John Lewis that earlier this year pledged their support to a good practice guide launched by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) after a government review into the commercialisation and sexualisation of children was published.

The guide called Responsible Retailing: BRC Childrenswear Guidelines, includes stipulations that slogans and imagery must be age appropriate, skirt length and neck line need consideration, thongs are not appropriate and heels should generally not exceed 1 inch.

Marchant said: “As a mum myself, I know how important it is that retailers offer parents and their children a choice of age appropriate clothing and styles. We take our responsibilities seriously, which is why we signed up to the BRC Childrenswear Guidelines and have a team of mums at Tesco to approve each and every children’s clothing line that we sell.”

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