Police booze blitz a 'large-scale success'

A police blitz on booze-fuelled anti-social behaviour has been hailed as a "large-scale success" by the Home Office today.

Half way through the eight-week campaign, and 1,869 'troublemakers' have been issued with on-the-spot fines - 794 for causing harassment, 786 for being drunk and disorderly and 289 for other alcohol-related offences.

Police have carried out sting operations against 646 licensed premises, and confiscated alcohol from more 1,764 under-18s and from 2,553 adults in a 'designated area'.

Around 5% of 14,000 premises visited were found to have committed an offence, and out of 646 sting operations, 51% of on licence and 29% of off licence premises were found to be selling to under-18s, according to official figures.

The enforcement campaign has been targeting alcohol-related disorder and underage drinking in 92 communities across the country. Powers available to police include closing rowdy premises for 24 hours, issuing fixed penalty notices for being drunk and disorderly and 'naming and shaming' off licences, bars and clubs who are convicted of selling to underage drinkers.

Alcohol fuels around half of all violent crime - at peak times 70% of hospital accident and emergency department admissions are due to alcohol and one in five people say alcohol causes a problem in their area, according to government statistics.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "Today's figures show that this co-ordinated police blitz up and down the country is already delivering real results in tackling underage and binge drinking and alcohol-fuelled disorder. These results are a credit to the police forces and their partners - this extra effort over the summer, on top of existing work, has made a real difference."

Mr Blunkett said that tough enforcement action and the cooperation of the alcohol industry to tackle irresponsible selling was the key for future progress.

The government is no longer prepared to tolerate our towns and city centres becoming no-go areas on Friday and Saturday nights, he added.

Stephen Green, ACPO spokesperson on the campaign and Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire police, said: "These figures demonstrate the determination of the police service to robustly enforce the licensing laws and to do everything in our power to tackle alcohol related violence. We intend to continue the momentum of this campaign right throughout the summer and believe that this will make our town and city centres more enjoyable for the vast majority of decent law abiding citizens who use them."

(gmcg)