Council chiefs back positive results on alcohol

Published Thursday 10 March 2016 at 14:01

Six pubs and three off-licences came up trumps after refusing to sell alcohol to under-age test purchasers.

A team of officers from Blackburn with Darwen Council’s public protection department and local police led an operation to ensure under-18s are not being served alcohol.

The premises were spread across Blackburn and Darwen with six pubs and three off-licences visited. All refused to sell alcohol to the test purchasers, aged 16, who requested a pint of lager and vodka and coke.

Councillor Yusuf Jan-Virmani, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Customer Service, said:

This is a great result and commendable operation all-round. Underage drinking is a scourge that needs to be tackled head on in this manner. We continue to target premises using intelligence received from the community, so if you have concerns about any pub, club or off-licence in the Borough please let us know.

Reports should be made to Citizens Advice consumer helpline 03454 04 05 06.

The positive results of the test-purchase operation comes on the back of recent stats from Public Health England that show the amount of deaths attributable specifically to alcohol in Blackburn with Darwen have steadily declined over the past ten years.

The borough’s rate of 11.7 per 100,000 people is the lowest in the North West and on a par with the national average.

Councillor Brian Taylor, Assistant Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care, said:

I’m pleased to see this decrease but firmly believe more needs to be done. The ‘key drivers’ of any alcohol-related harm in communities is cost and availability – the cheaper and more available alcohol is the more harm it will do. It is obvious and undeniable that the drinks industry has thus far turned the Government away from doing the right thing. It has fallen to local authorities to show what needs to be done.

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