Council News

12 June 2008

Underage Sales of Alcohol Falling in Wrexham

Sales of alcohol to underage persons has almost halved in Wrexham following a successful initiative to reduce the number of sales being made.

In 2006 there were 30 test purchases made at off-licences which resulted in 9 sales - a rate of 30%. To try and reduce this level of sales, funding was made available via the Community Safety Partnership for a temporary part time Enforcement Officer whose duties were to increase licensees' awareness of their responsibilities and to increase the rate of test purchasing to 80 during the year.

Figures for the period April 2007 to March 2008, show that the rate of sales to underage test purchase volunteers almost halved. 92 attempted test purchase were made at 51 premises, resulting in 16 sales or 17.4%. As a result of this enforcement activity 16 fixed penalty notices were issued to the employees who sold the alcohol, 7 licensees have been prosecuted, 3 licensees are still under investigation or awaiting Court hearings, 2 licensees have wound up their businesses and 4 were found to have exercised due care to prevent the sales and were not prosecuted.

Work to reduce the number of sales has been ongoing and licensees in the county borough have received extensive advice from Trading Standards and they have been provided with notices, training materials for staff and other materials to help with refusals of sales. In addition, Proof of Age cards continue to be issued to over 90% of eligible young people in Wrexham. The scheme is accredited by the Proof of Age Standards Scheme and cards bear holograms to prevent forgery. It was introduced as a direct result of traders expressing their concerns about verifying the age of young people.

The initiative will now continue into 2009 following further funding being confirmed by the Community Safety Partnership.

Cllr David Bithell, Lead Member for the Environment and Transport, said:

"Parents are rightly concerned about the amount of alcohol that young people are able to get hold of and this initiative is certainly helping to reduce the number of underage sales that are being made. Tackling direct sales is however, only one means of reducing the amount of alcohol being obtained by underage persons. Adults purchasing alcohol on behalf of young people are also contributing to the problem and we will continue to take action against those who break the law."