SANDWELL JOINS THE CHRISTMAS CLAMPDOWN ON BOOZE

21-12-2007

The government’s Christmas clampdown on booze – which prompted a “civil disobedience pub crawl” by Birmingham MP John Hemming – is now spreading to Sandwell. Not content with spying on customers and issuing fines to pissed-up customers, police in the Black Country borough will be using undercover filming as well.

The initiative stems from the Home Office which is sharing £250,000 among forces around the country to combat the crime of, er, getting drunk in pubs.

When the scheme was announced in Brum last month, Yardley MP Hemming railed at the loss of a basic British freedom, and toured Digbeth with Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg in a calculated attempt to defy the law (see link here)

You can hear their (mildly) drunken romp, as recorded for Radio 4’s You And Yours programme – together with comments in favour of a more restrained attitude to drink by Bournville councillor Nigel Dawkins (see link here)

Inspector Pat Smythe who leads on licensing issues in Sandwell explained that, “any licensees or staff caught on film selling alcohol to drunken people during the Christmas crack down would be given £80 fixed penalty tickets and the customers involved would either be issued with similar on-the-spot fines or taken to court.

“It is hoped that this will reduce the number of incidents of disorder which are particularly prevalent at this time of year as a result of binge drinking."

Sandwell is also pioneering an initiative designed to clamp down on the purchase of alcohol by children in off-licences and shops. Premises which are “under review” will be forced to put their address on the label of every bottle of booze, making it easier to trace illegal sales.

He added: "It is hoped that this will reduce the number of incidents of disorder which are particularly prevalent at this time of year as a result of binge drinking."

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