One in three off-licences selling drink to children

Published on Tuesday 22 April 2008 10:35

A CRACKDOWN on off-licences found one in three of those targeted in Lothian and Borders selling alcohol to underage customers.

Test purchasing – where young volunteers go into shops and bars to see if they will sell them alcohol – found youngsters were able to buy booze in 17 of the 51 premises visited in the area.

That put Lothian and Borders at the top of the table for illegal sales to under-18s.

The Scottish Government announced in December that test purchasing was being deployed across Scotland in a bid to curb illegal drink sales.

Now figures show staff sold alcohol to youngsters in 14 per cent of off-sales targeted.

Of 632 test purchases carried out in off-sales across the country, alcohol was sold to youngsters in 87 cases. The Conservatives described the situation as "unacceptable".

Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said local licensing boards needed to toughen up in their attitude to licensees selling drink to underage buyers.

He said: "Much of the trouble in Scottish communities is caused by underage drinking and the vast majority of this drink is obtained from off-sales rather than public houses.

"Licensed grocers have a particular responsibility to be vigilant and some of them are clearly being negligent. Anybody who knowingly sells alcohol to young people under the age of 18 should have their licence revoked.

"For those who get a second chance and still fail, there must be questions as to whether they should ever get a licence again."