Oswestry project warns young people against trying to buy alcohol
A Shropshire Council led project, the Oswestry Community Alcohol Partnership (Os-CAP), which aims to tackle underage drinking in the town, is warning young people against using fake or fraudulent IDs to obtain alcohol.
Trading Standards, West Mercia Police and Oswestry traders have been working together to prevent underage sales. Oswestry traders have been encouraged to “ask for ID, check ID and seize suspect ID”. Any young person who looks 25 years or younger who is attempting to buy alcohol is asked to prove that they are at least 18 years of age.
All licensed premises have been offered training which shows them how to check cards to make sure they are genuine and not being used fraudulently. Members of staff have the power to seize the document if they believe it to be fake or the person in possession of it to be underage.
Frances Darling, Shropshire Council’s safer and stronger communities service manager, said:
“We have been working hard with the retail and pub trade and supporting them in asking young people to prove their age. We have supplied them with application forms to offer young people so that they can apply for PASS accredited proof of age cards as well as showing them how to spot fake cards. We have also been tackling proxy purchasing, where adults buy on behalf of underage people, with our ‘don’t pass it on’ scheme. Adults are reminded that it is an offence to buy alcohol on behalf of an underage person. Doing so could result in a fine up to £5,000.”
PC Mark Moth, Local Policing Officer for Oswestry West, added:
“We often hear of young people using documents belonging to their older family members in order to purchase alcohol. Since May 2011, we have been running a document seizure scheme, in conjunction with town centre licensed premises, where members of staff can seize documents if they believe they are being used in this way. The seized document is brought to the police station and returned to the relevant governing body. The original owner then has to apply for a duplicate item, which will incur a cost to them. To date, the scheme has been very successful with over 80 items being seized so far.”
Councillor Vince Hunt, Chair of OsCAP, said:
“This partnership has shown what can be achieved when we all work together in a co-ordinated way. Providing details of fake IDs, proxy purchasing and underage sales attempts highlights the important contribution that traders bring to the partnership. By monitoring the intelligence that the various partners hold, resources can be directed to where they are most needed.”
