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Police in Portsmouth serve Sainsbury’s with 48 hour alcohol closure notice

Press Releases

Published: 06/05/2009


Police from Portsmouth OCU’s Licensing Team have served Sainsbury’s in Farlington with a 48 hour alcohol closure notice. 

Between 7am on Friday, May 8 and 7am on Sunday, May 10, Sainsbury’s, Fitzherbert Road, Farlington, Portsmouth will be banned from serving alcohol to any customers.  However, the store will remain open for other sales.

The notice has been served after staff at the store sold alcohol to young people under the age 18 three times in a three month period during test purchase operations carried out in Portsmouth between January and March this year.

Sergeant Wendie Douglas, said: “There were options available to us and on this occasion we offered Sainsbury’s two options.  Under Section 169A(2) of the Licensing Act 2003 Sainsbury’s could either accept the 48 hour alcohol closure or decide to go to court.  Sainsbury’s chose to accept the 48 hour ban.

“612 test purchase operations have been carried out as part of Operation Teen Drink Safe which is aimed at tackling the problem of youths having access to alcohol.  It is the first time this section of the Licensing Act has been used in Portsmouth.

“Stores do not want to sell alcohol to young people and alongside Trading Standards we are offering support and training, giving stores the chance to retrain their staff using the recently launched training package from Trading Standards.

“Officers have carried out a number of test purchase operations at Sainsbury’s since March and on each occasion staff have refused to sell alcohol to the young people which shows they are taking their responsibilities seriously.  Sainsbury’s have taken the failures very seriously and will continue to work with us in training their staff and refusing to sell alcohol to young people.”

Principal Trading Standards Officer, Neil Fitzpatrick, said: “After the disappointing initial results, we are pleased that subsequent re-tests have resulted in Sainsbury staff refusing to serve alcohol to persons under the age of 18. This clearly demonstrates that there is significant room for improvement even in large supermarkets. 

“Trading Standards would like to help retailers to understand the law and ensure their staff are adequately trained. Enforcement action is always a last resort and I would urge retailers to contact us if they require training assistance or information.”

Anti-social behaviour which is caused by young people drinking alcohol in public places is a concern for local communities.  Police in Portsmouth, Trading Standards and our off licensed premises are working together to combat this behaviour.

 


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