Wokingham

Off-licence staff from across the Wokingham borough came to a training day organised by Wokingham Borough Council and the police to help them deal with young people trying to buy alcohol.

The 23 staff who came to the Wokingham training morning heard from police and community safety officers about how they can help prevent under age drinkers getting hold of alcohol. There was a presentation on test purchasing operations that are carried out by the police and council to check if off-licences are selling to under age buyers and about the consequences of a failed test purchase.

But the Wokingham council and police are keen to work in partnership with off-licences on the issue and the training event included advice from the police on dealing with potential conflicts that could arise if staff refuse a sale or question a young person’s age. There was also a talk on the Challenge 25 initiative that is being used to help combat under age sales by encouraging staff to challenge anybody who looks under 25 to provide identification.

Among those attending was Jaishree Dhiri, from Winnersh Food and Wine, who said: “It was very useful and interesting. In particular I appreciated meeting my local community police officer, it was great to make that sort of contact and it is clear that this is a group effort to tackle the problem.”

Another who found the day useful was Sahil Kapoor, of Twyford Community Store, who said: “I have only been a licence holder in the Wokingham borough for one year and it was good to make contact with people who have been in the trade for a long time.”

There was also a presentation about the health effects of drinking too much alcohol.

Wokingham Borough Council community safety officer Stephanie Meyrick, who was one of the organisers, said: “We are working hard with the police to tackle under age drinking but we need to work with the off-licensees if we are to succeed and events such as this are great for building trust and developing partnerships.”

Wokingham Borough Council