Police catch Brighton off-licenses selling alcohol to under-18s
They've been warned they could lose their licenses in future
A number of off-licenses in Brighton and Hove have been warned about the risk of losing their alcohol licenses - after failing spot checks to find underage drinkers.
As part of a police operation, six stores in the city were approached by volunteers posing as customers under the age of 18 attempting to purchase alcohol on August 11th.
Of those, four failed to conduct the necessary identification checks before agreeing to sell them alcohol.
Officers from Sussex Police's licencing team have now spoken with the store owners to investigate how the breaches occurred and to review the terms of their licences.
The team will also educate store owners on how to comply with their licence conditions and ensure alcohol is sold only to people proven to be over the age of 18.
Shop workers are obliged to request proof of age if somebody attempting to purchase alcohol appears to be under 25 years of age.
Undercover alcohol licence checks are carried out across the city as part of Operation Tepee, with the aim of reducing harm and anti-social behaviour, particularly among young people.
Stores found to be in breach of their licences risk losing their permission to sell alcohol.
Chief Inspector Andrew Westwood said:
"The sale of alcohol to young people under the age of 18 is not only a serious risk to public health but also fuels anti-social behaviour in the city.
"Alcohol vendors have a responsibility to ensure their customers are over the legal age limit and should ask to see some identification if there is any doubt.
"The Challenge 25 policy is simple - if a customer trying to buy alcohol looks under 25, confirm their age.
"Through Operation Tepee we will continue to conduct checks on off-licences, engage with any found to be in breach of their licence conditions and take enforcement action where required."