Police carrying out spot checks to combat the sale of alcohol to underage drinkers in Brighton and Hove have found positive results.
Operation Teepee see officers sending volunteers into off licences across the city to check whether they're being asked for identification to prove their age when they attempt to buy alcohol.
On Thursday, October 21, officers visited 12 premises and 11 passed the identification checks.
The one who failed will be prosecuted under the Licensing Act 2003 for allowing the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18.
One of the premises that passed was a retest from a previous failure during the last round of checks on August 11, 2021.
Similarly, officers test shops’ Challenge 25 policy – the requirement to verify the age of customers who look younger than 25 – by using a 21-year-old volunteer posing as a customer. Premises in breach are not committing an offence, but will have breached the conditions of their premises licence.
Over the course of 2021, two premises failed Challenge 25 tests, were issued licence breach warning letters and passed when retested.
Seven premises served volunteers under the age of 18. Five of these had conditions added to their licences, six were issued with formal warnings and met with licensing officers and one designated supervisor will be prosecuted.
Inspector Michelle Palmer-Harris said:
“Licence holders who serve young people alcohol are in breach of the law and failing the licensing objective and their responsibility to protect children from harm.
“It is positive to see such a high proportion of premises pass the age tests, including previous failures who have taken on board the message from previous shortcomings.
“As a force we will continue to make sure vendors are sticking to the terms of their licences and engage, educate and enforce where necessary.
“Licence holders have an obligation to ask for ID if a customer appears to be under the age of 25 and of course nobody under 18 should be served alcohol.
“Failure to do so is a serious risk to public health, fuels anti-social behaviour and will not be tolerated.”
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