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Council to Target Underage Drinking Sales

Underage drinkers are being targeted in Wrexham to tackle the problem of anti social behaviour associated with alcohol.

A specialist officer has been appointed by Wrexham Council to increase the amount of enforcement action against underage sales at off licences throughout the County Borough. The post is funded in part by the Home Office and the Community Safety Partnership.

The sale of alcohol to people under the age of 18 is against the law. It is an offence for sales staff and the Premises Licence Holders to sell to anyone who is under this age. Trading Standards will be increasing checks at premises by using 15 and 16 year old volunteers to attempt to buy alcohol from premises all across Wrexham.

Where sales are made, the punishment can result in prosecution for the Premises Licence Holder and Designated Premises Supervisor, an £80 fixed penalty notice to sales staff, and ultimately may result in the revocation of the Premises Licence. In some parts of the country licences have already been removed and premises closed down.

Andy Lewis, Wrexham Council’s Chief Housing and Public Protection Officer, says:

The Council is taking this matter very seriously and warns retailers to take steps to ensure staff are adequately trained to check for identification and make sure they are complying with the law.

Wrexham Trading Standards runs the Proof of Age scheme in Wrexham to assist retailers in identifying the age of a customer. age of a customer. Most young people aged between 16 and 19 have been issued with either a 16+ or 18+ card which shows the persons date of birth, name and picture. Sales staff should always check the age of their younger customer and ask them to produce proof of age. If they can’t its simple DON’T SELL.

Any further questions relating to the law on the sale of age restricted products or the Wrexham proof of age scheme please contact Ceri Martin on 01978 296060.