From The Louth Leader
Published on Tuesday 23 October 2012 08:00
Three public houses in the Louth area have failed test purchasing operations aimed at cutting under age sales of alcohol.
A joint agency test purchase operation was conducted during the evening of Friday, October 19, with officers from Lincolnshire Police Licensing, Lincolnshire Trading Standards and Lincolnshire Police Special Constabulary targeting underage sales of alcohol.
The Poacher public house in Eastgate, Louth, sold alcohol to two 16-year-old volunteers. A penalty notice was issued to the member of staff who made the sale.
Olivers public house in Aswell Street, Louth, also sold alcohol to two 16-year-old volunteers. A penalty notice was issued to the member of staff who made the sale.
The George public house in Alford High Street also failed the test. Again alcohol was sold to two 16-year-old volunteers. A penalty notice was issued to the member of staff who made the sale.
The Costcutter store in Newmarket, Louth, refused the sale to the two volunteers.
Identification was requested and none was produced by the volunteers, then their ages were requested and when their ages were given as 18 and ID was requested again, none was produced and the sale was refused.
Costcutter will be advised that their procedure does not reflect considered best practice to prevent underage sales and that the only acceptable request is for ID alone.
The premises making sales will be invited to attend formal meetings with Police Licensing and Trading Standards for advice and best practice to prevent future sales.
The premises who made sales will then be retested and if a second sale is made, the licence holder will be prosecuted for persistent selling to under 18s and the licence to sell alcohol will be reviewed at Local Authority Licensing Hearing.
