Pubs refuse more than one million a month

More than one million people a month are being turned away from pubs for being under 18 or failing to have the right proof of age, according to the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

The BBPA has also set out a string of new measures pubs and pub companies have put in place to ensure they are not caught out on underage sales in a new study.

The research has been released as the latest Home Office Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign gathers pace, with police and trading standards officers currently mounting underage test purchase operations in more than 3,000 targeted licensed premises in the on and off trade.

BBPA director of communications Mark Hastings said the study highlighted two key issues.

"Firstly, it indicates the large number of under-18s trying on a regular basis to buy drink in pubs, illustrating the scale of the challenge pubs face day-in-day-out," he said.

"Secondly, it demonstrates that pub staff are playing a vital role in enforcing the law. It clearly shows the enormous effort being applied by the industry."

Heightened measures adopted by the trade include renewed formal training programmes for staff, including regular briefings, reminders, till prompts and signage on how to identify and check potential underage customers and the consequences of failure if things go wrong.

Many companies are running their own test purchase operations to identify where failures occur and retraining might be needed.

Pubs have also been working hard to ensure that staff are trained to accept only passports, driving licences and PASS-accredited proof-of-age as a valid form of identification - the Challenge 21 campaign stresses firmly in its posters and other communications that no other form of ID is acceptable.

"While there is always more we can do, with pubs refusing to sell alcohol to over one million young people a month, these figures show the huge effort pubs are putting in to tackle the issue," said Hastings.

"We won't get it right every time, but these results, along with this year's success of our Challenge 21 campaign and a host of other measures, show how seriously we are taking this. We will carry on with the campaign, redouble our training programmes and continue to work towards our target of zero test purchase failures."