A WOMAN has been prosecuted and two stores have had their liquor licenses suspended after they were caught selling alcohol to underage drinkers.
Kalyani Patel has been fined for selling alcohol to an underage volunteer as part of Operation Teepee – a Sussex Police operation which carry out test purchases at licensed premises in Brighton and Hove.
It was the second time the 55-year-old, who worked at Wild Park Local in Barcombe Road, had failed a test.
Patel, of Barcombe Road, Brighton, pleaded guilty to selling alcohol to someone under the age of 18.
She was fined £300 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim fine surcharge of £34.
Wild Park Local and Moonlight, in Church Road, Hove, have both failed police checks serving underage teenagers on more than one occasion.
At a licensing committee hearing, Wild Park Local’s liquor license was suspended for a month to allow the licensee to put in place preventative measures, including a robust staff training program.
An electronic system has also been installed at checkouts, requiring staff involved in the sale of alcohol to confirm that a customer is presumed to be over 25 or that identification has been provided.
The store was warned that a further violation of the license terms would likely result in the withdrawal of its license.
Moonlight’s license was suspended for two weeks to allow for refresher training and changes to be made based on terms added to the store’s license.
Additional requirements include that all alcohol products be visible to staff members and that alcohol refrigerators be equipped with a buzzer to alert when opened.
An electronic system has also been fitted to the tills, and an external company is to be employed to carry out test purchases – the results of which will be available to Sussex Police and Trading Standards.
Licensing manager Hannah Staplehurst said: ‘The sale of alcohol to underage drinkers will absolutely not be tolerated in Brighton and Hove, and we will always work with locals to educate and put in place measures to stop occurrences. repeated.
“The conditions applied to the licenses in the last hearings show that we are willing to engage with licensees, but multiple violations will result in liquor licenses being revoked.
“Through Operation Tipi, our licensing team will continue to perform spot checks across the city to ensure licensees and staff are aware of their responsibilities.”
All alcohol refusals should be recorded and an external company should be employed to provide training to all customer-facing staff on the sale of alcohol, with refresher training taking place every six months.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-26 14:20:00
