'Significant' level of underage drinking taking place in Bridlington
The Community Alcohol Partnership will look to tackle anti-social behaviour
Bridlington Police say there's a 'significant' level of under-18s drinking taking place in the town.
It comes as a new Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) has been made to tackle the problem and anti-social behaviour.
CAPs are made up of local authorities, police, schools, retailers, neighbourhood groups and health providers, and consists of them working together to tackle alcohol-related harm to young people and improve the quality of life for residents.
The new Partnership will work closely with local schools to take a proactive approach to alcohol education, to ensure that young people are equipped to make the right decisions about issues including drugs, anti-social and criminal behaviour.
It will also work with local retailers to help them avoid making underage sales and reduce ‘proxy’ sales where adults buy alcohol for under-18s.
The CAP will also provide alcohol-free activities for local young people through youth services and local charities.
The Partnership would like residents to complete a short survey. It will help them to understand where public concerns are and help direct their work to resolve the issues.
Zoe Messenger, Police Constable at the Neighbourhood Team in Bridlington, said: "This is the first Community Alcohol Partnership that's actually been set up in the East Riding and hopefully it'll be rolled out to other areas. It's about education, prevention and engagement to do with underage drinking to tackle alcohol-related harm to young people and to improve the lifestyle of the community as well.
"We are very aware that underage drinking goes on. We have put surveys out with the help from our advisor from the Community Alcohol Partnership and the information that's coming back from schools is that yes, there is quite a significant level of underage drinking at this moment in time in Bridlington.
"Retailers and shops will get the banners that they'll be putting on shelves to help prevent the sale of alcohol to underage people. It's also to do with the proxy selling as well, so the purchasing of alcohol by legal age people with the purpose of supplying that to underage people. There's the education element around that.
"Young people that get into alcohol tend to go on to abuse alcohol in a large way which sometimes leads to other things like the use of drugs. If we can prevent that by showing them a healthier lifestyle, educating them and providing them other ways to get involved in the community."