MPs Call For 'Happy Hour' Drinking Ban

Supermarkets should be banned from selling alcohol at a loss in order to address the growing issue of alcohol-fuelled violence.

The Home Affairs Select Committee also said pub 'happy hours' should be halted as police forces are wasting significant resources tackling alcohol-related crime, when they could be focusing on other offences.

In the report on policing, the availability of cheap alcohol was blamed on the level of violence seen on the street.

It revealed alcohol was 69% more affordable now than in 1980, and 45% of victims of violence said their attackers were drunk. Also, since 24-hour drinking was launched, figures show there was a 25% rise in serious violence from 3am to 6am.

Committee Chairman Keith Vaz told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We cannot have on one hand a world of alcohol promotions for profit that fuels surges of crime and disorder, and on the other the police diverting all their resources to cope with it.

"At the moment you have a situation where so much of police time is taken up dealing with alcohol related crime."

He added: "Happy hours lead to unhappy communities. Loss leaders in supermarkets cause real misery to city centres on a Saturday night."

The report - which looked into the challenges police are facing in the 21st Century - also made calls for the drink's trade social responsibility standards to be made compulsory.

Simon O'Brien, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) on pubs and clubs, said those selling drink irresponsibly were a "minority".

Ministers have responded to the report, saying they would "look carefully" at the recommendations made.

(JM)