Parents are giving booze to kids, say police

Sgt Richard Bunch said police could prosecute an adult seen buying alcohol for children from an off licence or shop.

But he believed drink found on youngsters by police community support officers (PCSOs) this summer came from parents.

He said: 'The alcohol is coming from the parents, we can do nothing to stop them supplying alcohol.

'If a parent goes into an off licence we can prosecute.

'But we cannot prosecute parents when the children bring alcohol out of houses.'

Inspector Claire Stephenson was absent from the council meeting.

But she wrote in a report to the councillors: 'Young people found with alcohol will have it seized and letters will be sent home to parents making them aware of their child's behaviour.'

Under-age drinkers were caught out by Hailsham's PCSOs 23 times this summer.

And other PCSOs based outside the town have helped catch children with drink, so the actual figure is higher.

At the council meeting on Monday, the Mayor, Cllr Nick Ellwood, said the council would support the police in tackling alcohol issues.

Cllr Bryan Burchmore asked Sgt Bunch about the new law, which came into practice this week, banning under-18-year-olds from buying cigarettes.

Sgt Bunch said it would be hard for the police to catch adults buying cigarettes for children.

He added: 'It is a weak piece of legislation that has come in and it is going to be difficult to manage.

'My priorities will not be dealing with youngsters buying cigarettes under the age of 18.

'I would rather they smoked a cigarette than drink six cans of stella.'

Cannabis was listed as the main drug used in the town but Sgt Bunch did not think there were stronger illegal substances in the area.

This summer saw a seven per cent decrease in reported crime in Hailsham and a 31 per cent rise in detection rates.

Test purchasing operations for alcohol also saw a 100 per cent pass rate in the town.