Drunks crackdown "a waste of money
A controversial Home Office crackdown on problem pubs and bars has been branded "a total waste of money".
The £250,000 month-long campaign saw plain-clothes police officers going into more than 1,700 pubs, bars and clubs, to check "compliance with the law".
It included seeing whether staff were serving alcohol to people already drunk in the run up to Christmas.
As exclusively revealed in The Publican last November, police were given guidelines on how to spot a drunk. The tell-tale signs included "rambling conversation", "an unkempt appearance", "being careless with money" and "spilling drinks".
But the results, revealed yesterday, showed just three warnings were issued, one licence reviewed and one premises shut.
Out of a total of 1,741 problem venues targeted during the Responsible Alcohol Sales Campaign, 53 "offences" of selling to drunks were recorded.
The Home Office said the "intelligence-led" campaign was "firmly focussed on the minority of poorly managed premises known to be associated with alcohol-related violence, crime and disorder".
But licensees have been left unimpressed by the initiative.
David Wine, licensee of the Six Bells, in Felsham, Suffolk, said: "What a total waste of money. They should be tackling the supermarkets instead of lurking around pubs and looking for headlines. We are a controlled environment for people to drink in."
At the Goldcroft Inn, in Caerleon, South Wales, licensee Sam Starbuck said: "They are insulting our common sense. No licensee wants drunken louts in their pub - you have to think about your other customers."
During the operation, involving 90 police teams across 30 forces, eight offences of selling to children were also recorded. Ten examples of "unauthorised licensable activities" were noted.
"Proxy" sales, where drink is bought for a child by an adult, totalled two.
Rob Hayward, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: "It shows that policing licensees in this way is hardly the most effective good use of taxpayers' money.
"The public, enjoying their Christmas in their favourite pub, might have been happier if the police had spent the time patrolling the streets."
