Albrighton retailer has licence suspended for underage alcohol sale
Shropshire Council’s public protection officers have welcomed the decision of the council’s Licensing Sub-Committee to suspend for 28 days an Albrighton retailer’s Premises Licence after they sold alcohol to an underage individual on two separate occasions.
Albrighton Post Office and Convenience Store was visited by public protection officers early in 2014 following reports that sales of alcohol to minors were being made at the shop. During this exercise bottles of cider were sold to an underage volunteer aged 16. A return visit to the shop was undertaken during September 2014, using a 17 year old volunteer, which again resulted in an illegal sale, this time of a bottle of VS Blue, a vodka based drink. Enquiries by public protection officers showed that the store did not adopt the steps to prevent underage sales that most traders would consider reasonable. An aggravating feature of this case was that both sales were made by the owner of the business.
An application for a Licence Review was submitted by public protection officers over concerns that the operation of Albrighton Post Office and Convenience Stores was undermining the licensing objective of ‘Protecting Children from Harm’. A hearing was held on the 2 February 2014 at which the Premises Licence Holder failed to attend. Having heard representations the Licensing Sub-Committee decided to suspend the Premises Licence for 28 days and to add 6 additional conditions, aimed at preventing further illegal sales, to the Premises Licence.
Following the licence review, Grant Tunnadine, investigations team manager for public protection at Shropshire Council, said:
“The public protection service will from time to time undertake alcohol test purchasing exercises at retail premises using underage individuals. We have to protect the welfare of young people and preventing them from accessing alcohol before they are legally old enough to purchase it, is one of the many ways that we contribute to this.
I am pleased with the outcome of the licensing hearing today and we will continue to ensure that Shropshire traders do not sell alcohol to children. Any person found to sell alcohol during these operations may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice or in certain cases we may consider undertaking a formal investigation which could result in legal proceedings.
Also, where a business’s activities are believed to undermine one of the licensing objectives then the public protection service is able to request a review of their premises licence.”
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for Public Protection added:
“Selling alcohol to minors is a serious matter and retailers must remain diligent at all times. Underage drinking has implications for the health of young people as well as their safety whilst under the influence. ‘Challenge 25’ is a very simple policy to adopt and has proved to be a very effective method of preventing underage sales. Any customer who appears to be aged 25 or under, should be asked to prove that they are legally old enough to purchase the alcohol. It can be difficult to judge a person’s age and it was for this reason that Challenge 25 was introduced. I am confident that when staff adopt the policy correctly, they will never sell to an underage individual.”
Shropshire Council encourages individuals to contact the Citizens Advice Consumer helpline on 08454 04 05 06 if they have any suspicions that retailers may be selling age restricted products to minors. Information can be given anonymously and will always be treated in line with the council’s information governance policies.
Shropshire based traders who wish to seek further advice on their legal obligations or who also wish to report any suspicions that offences may be being committed by other businesses can do so by contacting public protection’s prevention and early intervention team on 0345 678 9000. General business advice and support can also be found on the council’s website at http://shropshire.gov.uk/business/.
