Pubs praised as underage sales dive

The pub trade's efforts to stamp out underage sales have been hailed after government figures revealed a major drop in the number selling to children.

Figures published today show that in nearly 9,000 on-trade and off-trade targeted stings, children were only sold to in 14.7 per cent of cases.

And pubs performed well in comparison to the off-trade. Of the 22 premises that sold to children on three separate occasions, only five were pubs and one a nightclub. The rest were off-trade premises.

The Home Office said it was encouraged by the results as past campaigns had been done randomly, whereas this had targeted problem venues.

Figures on underage sales have been progressively improving since police stings began three years ago. In 2004, the overall failure rate was 50 per cent and in 2006 it fell to 20 per cent.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said: "I know that the industry has made significant efforts in recent years to educate staff and strengthen procedures.

"It is clear that the 'Challenge 21' policy is now becoming established as standard practice across the industry. This campaign clearly demonstrates that improvements can be made with only very few premises failing three times. "However the underlying figures indicate there is still room for further improvements to stop the sales first time, every time."

In addition, 224 premises were caught twice and could have their licence reviewed.

During the 10-week national Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol, running from May 4 to July 13, 2,683 pubs and off-licences were targeted by police and trading standards officers. Police were told to focus on 20 known problem venues in their area.

The campaign coincided with the introduction of tough new penalties being introduced for the first time, with venues caught selling to children on three separate occasions facing a fine of up to £10,000; a review of their licence and being forced to close for three months.

Chris Allinson, the Association of Chief Police Officers lead on alcohol, said the industry had played a "major part" in delivering the improvement. However, he added: "Underage sales still remain an issue and the industry needs to maintain its focus on it."

The figures came in the week that the British Beer & Pub Association revealed a 5.3 drop in alcohol consumption over the past two years.