Trading standards rumble tipping tenant

A licensee has been accused of ripping off his customers after he was caught substituting premium-priced vodka with a cheaper brand.

The incident has prompted a senior trading standards officer to warn that licensees found "tipping" will face losing their personal licence when the new licensing regime kicks in.

Bryan Lewin, lead officer for counterfeiting for the Trading Standards Institute, claims the episode in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, is the latest in a series of such incidents.

Colin Kemsley, of the Antelope tricked customers into paying top prices for Kirov vodka, which was being sold out of a Smirnoff Red bottle.

Trading standards officers caught Mr Kemsley in the act last June during a routine check-up.

The pub's owner, the Cavalier Pub Company, apologised and said Mr Kemsley had been removed from his post as soon as it was made aware of the situation. The company was fined £1,000 and the two directors £500 each by Wycombe magistrates.

Mr Lewin said there was nothing new about the practice.

"Customers are deceived into paying for what is often an inferior product," he said.

"They have asked for a product by name because they trust the brand. Giving them something else is ripping them off."

In some cases it is not the licensee who is to blame, but the barstaff, although the licensee is still held responsible.

Mr Lewin advised publicans to carry out regular checks on bottles, record how often bottles are thrown away and vary the times of checks.

Penalties for selling substitute or counterfeit spirits include heavy fines and a potential loss of licence.

Mr Lewin underlined that under the new Licensing Act, which will become law in 2005, there will be the additional penalty of the suspension or loss of a personal licence.