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Six Thousand Pints Of Alcohol Seized From Under-18s

14 January 2008

Police from 21 forces across the country seized over 3,700 litres of beer, wine, cider, alcopops and spirits from youths aged under 18 during an autumn crackdown on drinking in public places.

The results of the month long campaign published today by the Home Office revealed the total which is equivalent to over 6,500 pints,

During the campaign, funded by the Home Office, police also used new powers under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 to disperse groups where alcohol related crime or disorder was suspected.

The campaign ran from 8 October to 5 November 2007 with a particular focus on the weekends, half term school holiday, Halloween and Bonfire Night. Police Officers and Community Support Officers visited public places known to be underage drinking hotspots - often turned into no-go areas during the evenings - and brought alcohol-induced anti-social behaviour to an abrupt halt by seizing alcohol and dispersing threatening groups.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:

“This campaign was designed to bring to bear the full range of police tools and powers to tackle the harm caused to individuals and communities by underage drinking. It will not be the last.

“Quite simply we will not tolerate drinking in public by under-18s or anyone else where it leads to anti-social and intimidating behaviour.

“Confiscation complements our efforts to tackle the supply of alcohol to children. The enforcement of underage sales law has hardened dramatically in recent years and I know that many alcohol retailers have raised their game and now routinely apply ‘Challenge 21’ criteria to anyone who looks underage.

“The Government remains committed to working with the police and local authorities to use every measure at our disposal - both coercive and cooperative - to make sure everyone over the age of 18 can enjoy alcohol safely and responsibly.”

Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Chris Allison, the Association of Chief Police Officers lead on alcohol and licensing said:

“This campaign was one of a number that have been undertaken to deal with the negative effects of alcohol. Significant work has been done on the issue of underage sales and this campaign sought to use the tactic of confiscation to help prevent the drink-fuelled crime and anti-social behaviour that we witness up and down the country. The police service will continue to work with our partners to deal with these type of issues and will make use of all of the powers we have available to us.”

The campaign is one part of a wider commitment across Government to address alcohol-related harm through effective education and tough enforcement. This summer over 3,000 off-licences, pubs and clubs were subject to underage test purchase operations by Police and Trading Standards Officers - in nearly 9,000 test purchase operations children were able to obtain alcohol in only 14.7 per cent of cases. Premises that repeatedly sold alcohol to minors had their licenses revoked.

This month saw a national Responsible Alcohol Sales Campaign which focused again on underage sales and alcohol-related disorder targeting the small proportion of problem premises.

Notes to Editors

1. Twenty three Basic Command Units in 21 police forces participated in the campaign.

2. The Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 provides police officers in uniform and designated PCSOs the power to remove alcohol from persons under 18 in a public place where alcohol is being consumed or the officer reasonably suspects consumption is about to take place.

3. Over 3,700 litres of alcohol (beer, cider, wine and spirits) was seized from youngsters in each area, together with over 280 bottles of ‘alcopops’ and 340 fireworks.

	Beer	Cider	Wine	Spirits	Alcopop (bottles)	Firework
Bedfordshire - Bedford	96.8	9.85	8.75	12.65	13	4
Cambridgeshire - Northern	14	1	0	2	4	0
Cleveland - Stockton	208	31	24	4	8	0
Devon & Cornwall - Plymouth	546.6	31	6	15	53	7
Dorset - Bournemouth	34	8.7	8.7	4	2	0
Greater Manchester - Bury	123	6	5	8	18	0
Greater Manchester - Salford	33.8	23	2.25	3.83	3	0
Gwent - Caerphilly & Blaenau Gwent	217	30	10	10	5	1
Hampshire - Southampton	89	13	0	5		0
Kent - Medway	69.5	10.5	2	2	8	0
Lancashire - Western	224	38	15	23	24	43
Leicestershire - Central Leicestershire	18	0	0	4	17	0
Merseyside - South Liverpool	315	14	8	6	2	112
Metropolitan Police - Croydon	9.41	2	1	0		6
Metropolitan Police - Waltham Forest	18	5	0	6		0
Northamptonshire - Western	28.5	5	0	1.5	0	4
Northumbria - Sunderland	68.5	18.5	70	5	1	0
Nottinghamshire - Area A	53.192	13	3.75	2.05	4	0
South Wales - Swansea	219.64	53.94	49.3	14.75	77	34
South Yorkshire - Sheffield 2	348	41	18.3	25.6	39	112
Warwickshire - Northern	101	13	2	4		6
West Midlands - E2	21	0	0	0		2
West Yorkshire - City and Holbeck	104	12	21	3	9	9
TOTAL (litres, except alcopops measured in bottles)	2959.942	379.49	255.05	161.38	287	340

4. 6,227 children were approached by the police during the campaign of which 4,541 were males.

5. There will be another confiscation of alcohol campaign in 2008. Details will follow in due course.

6. Many forces reported that this targeted action often led to fewer reports from the public of youth nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

7. Photographs of some of the confiscated alcohol can be requested from the Home Office press office.

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