Don't buy booze for Wokingham under-age drinkers
Next time an under-age Wokingham drinker asks you to buy them alcohol, do them - and yourself - a favour and say no.
That is the ‘message in a bottle’ from Wokingham Borough Council’s community safety and licensing teams, who have joined forces with Thames Valley Police to put a stop adults buying booze for young people.
The Wokingham council has produced posters for off-licences around the borough warning adults that buying alcohol for under-age drinkers not only puts the young people in danger but could also hit them in their pockets. Buying alcohol on behalf of under-18s is a crime and anybody caught doing it could be handed an on-the-spot £80 fine or end up in court, where they could be fined up to £5,000.
Off-licences in the borough will also be given small information cards to hand to customers warning them of the possible fines if they buy alcohol for under-18s.
Wokingham Borough Council executive member for community safety Cllr Barrie Patman said: “If under-age drinkers are denied the chance to buy alcohol by vigilant off-licences, their next step is often to try to get an adult to buy it for them – and that is much harder for off-licence staff to identify and stop a sale. The important message we need to get across is that it is illegal to buy an under-age person alcohol. Also, while it may seem as though you are doing the young person a favour by buying them alcohol, you are not – you are actually hurting them by exposing them to the health risks of drinking too much and the potential danger of being drunk and vulnerable on the street.”
When young people drink they are not just harming their bodies, but are also exposing themselves to greater risk of violent and sexual attacks and increasing the chance of committing crimes - such as criminal damage or affray - themselves.
If you are asked to purchase alcohol on behalf on somebody who is underage, or witness a young person asking other people to do so, please call Thames Valley Police on 0845 8 505 505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Please give as much information as you can, including the date, time, location and descriptions of those involved.
Most off-licences in the Wokingham borough operate a Challenge 21 or Challenge 25, which means if somebody looks under that age, they are challenged to produce appropriate ID before purchasing alcohol.
That is the ‘message in a bottle’ from Wokingham Borough Council’s community safety and licensing teams, who have joined forces with Thames Valley Police to put a stop adults buying booze for young people.
The Wokingham council has produced posters for off-licences around the borough warning adults that buying alcohol for under-age drinkers not only puts the young people in danger but could also hit them in their pockets. Buying alcohol on behalf of under-18s is a crime and anybody caught doing it could be handed an on-the-spot £80 fine or end up in court, where they could be fined up to £5,000.
Off-licences in the borough will also be given small information cards to hand to customers warning them of the possible fines if they buy alcohol for under-18s.
Wokingham Borough Council executive member for community safety Cllr Barrie Patman said: “If under-age drinkers are denied the chance to buy alcohol by vigilant off-licences, their next step is often to try to get an adult to buy it for them – and that is much harder for off-licence staff to identify and stop a sale. The important message we need to get across is that it is illegal to buy an under-age person alcohol. Also, while it may seem as though you are doing the young person a favour by buying them alcohol, you are not – you are actually hurting them by exposing them to the health risks of drinking too much and the potential danger of being drunk and vulnerable on the street.”
When young people drink they are not just harming their bodies, but are also exposing themselves to greater risk of violent and sexual attacks and increasing the chance of committing crimes - such as criminal damage or affray - themselves.
If you are asked to purchase alcohol on behalf on somebody who is underage, or witness a young person asking other people to do so, please call Thames Valley Police on 0845 8 505 505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Please give as much information as you can, including the date, time, location and descriptions of those involved.
Most off-licences in the Wokingham borough operate a Challenge 21 or Challenge 25, which means if somebody looks under that age, they are challenged to produce appropriate ID before purchasing alcohol.
Wokingham Borough Council
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