Licensee fined thousands for spirit "tipping

A licensee has been fined £8,000 for refilling branded spirit bottles with cheaper alternatives.

Simon Crathorn of the Blue Cow Inn in South Witham, Lincolnshire, was found guilty of spirit "tipping" after trading standards officers acted on customer complaints.

He claimed staff had committed the crime while he was on holiday but he was found guilty of four offences.

Lincolnshire County Council's head of trading standards Peter Heafield said: "Consumers have a right to receive exactly what they pay for and we will take appropriate action against those found to be misleading and defrauding the public."

In a separate case Julian Rhodes of the Park Tavern in Southend-on-Sea pleaded guilty to two offences of refilling bottles of premium branded gin and vodka with cheaper substitutes.

Rhodes was fined £500 plus costs after inspectors used an authenticity test on his vodka, gin and rum.

Philip Scatchard, director of the International Federation of Spirit Producers UK, said: "Fortunately this illegal practise is not as prevalent as it was some years ago but we are continuing to do everything we can to protect customers from being ripped off by the small minority of licensees who refill premium branded spirits with cheaper product."