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Police and IW Council Trading Standards officers have carried out two test purchase operations in the past week, targeting alcohol sales in Ryde and Newport in pubs and shops.
While all the shops successfully asked the underage person for ID and refused the sale, three pubs served the young person.
On the evening of Thursday 7 July in Ryde, four off-licences were tested, all of which passed. On the same evening, three public houses were tested, of which two failed the test and sold alcohol. The volunteer was a 16yr old female.
The following week on Tuesday 12 July in Newport, two off-licences were tested, both of which passed. Of the five public houses that were visited, one failed the test and sold alcohol. The volunteer was a 15yr old male.
Bill Murphy, IW Council Head of Regulatory Services said "While we should correctly praise all the shops we visited for their vigilance, it is very disappointing that three of the eight pubs we visited failed.
"There is absolutely no excuse for it. This is a serious offence and they have been warned about their future conduct and given advice on how to spot underage customers.
"Serving alcohol to people under the age of 18 is not only illegal, it also contributes to anti-social behaviour and is something the council works closely with the police and traders to crack down on."
Sergeant Mark Voller from Hampshire Constabulary said "The good news is that off-licences now appear to be taking the right action to stop young people getting alcohol. We are however less impressed by the results from pubs. Given that these particular operations were carried out in the early evening it is disappointing that alcohol was so easily obtained.
"Again we stress to licensees that it is essential to require proof of age from any customer appearing to be under 18. To reduce the chance of an illegal sale we advise licensees to make 'Challenge 21' their policy. This prevents anyone under that age from being served without first showing satisfactory proof of age.
"We are convinced that if bar staff observe 'Challenge 21' there is little risk of failing a test purchase. To prevent further illegal sales, we want licensees and their staff to be active and assertive in checking the age of customers. We also expect customers to respond positively and be prepared to show proof of age before every purchase. Police will continue to support licensees who take proper action in accordance with the law and their own policy."
A test purchase operation involves an underage person - typically 15 or 16 - enter a premises with two adults and attempting to buy an age-restricted product. These could be fireworks, cigarettes, knives or alcohol.
If a premises fails, the seller is given an on the spot fine as well as the business owner. Premises that repeatedly fail could ultimately lose their trading license.
The names of the businesses which failed the test purchase operation will not be made public. This is standard practice following test purchases.
