80 percent of Slough shops say no to underage drinkers
More than 80 percent of shops in Slough have passed a trading standards test by not selling alcohol to underage teens in the borough.
Over the last three months, Slough Borough Council’s trading standards team carried out an underage alcohol sales test in local shops to see if any would sell alcohol to children.
The exercises were carried out as part of the Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol Campaign (TUSAC), in conjunction with the Trading Standards South East Regional Group the Home Office and Thames Valley Police.
Out of 46 Slough premises visited, only nine sold alcohol to underage teenagers.
The four exercises were carried out on:
* May 4 – nine premises visited, only four sales made
* May 10 – twelve premises visited, only three sales made
* June 1 – nine premises visited, no sales made
* July 13 – sixteen premises visited, only two sales made
All stores that sold alcohol are now in the process of being interviewed by trading standards, in view of potential further action being taken.
Dean Cooke, technical officer for trading standards at Slough Borough Council, said: “Although we would have preferred 100 percent compliance with the law from traders, the vast majority of them refused to sell alcohol to the under age volunteers we used.
“We would like to congratulate those traders for their vigilance and to encourage them to keep up their good work.
“We will be providing all sellers of age-restricted products with updated information and training and will continue to operate the proof-of-age Slough Card, with the assistance of Citizencard.”
Further to this, Slough trading standards is also planning to hold seminars for traders to give them the opportunity of further training and to help to address particular issues.
Commissioner for public protection, John Edwards, said: “The recent results of the trading standards underage alcohol tests are very encouraging.
“There are still shops out there selling alcohol to underage teens, but with more training and guidance, hopefully the percentage of underage buying will fall even more.”
Slough Borough Council