Police warning to shop owners

Officers are trying to crack down on anti-social behaviour in the town and have ear-marked under-age drinkers as their first targets.

Together with officers from Trading Standards, Hastings Neighbourhood Policing Team went on a blitz of off-licences and stores selling alcohol to see which were selling to teenagers.

Over the course of two nights (Thursday, May 31 and Friday, June 1) police visited 18 shops and off-licences with four teenage police cadets. At each shop an under-age cadet was sent inside in normal clothes to try to buy alcohol.

The cadets were challenged by shop-workers in 17 of the stores, with staff demanding to see proof of age and then refusing to sell them any drink.

The one shop which did sell the teenager alcohol was the New Market off-licence in Battle Road, only a stone's throw from where five teenagers died in 2005 when the car they were travelling in crashed into a wall.

At the time there was public outcry as police revealed the under-age driver of the car and some of the teenage passengers had been drinking.

Police vowed to get tough on anyone selling alcohol to teenagers and the public called for a more responsible attitude from off-licences.

The fact that a shop so close to the scene of the tragic crash is still flaunting licensing laws will no doubt cause more outrage.

Police slapped an on-the-spot fine on the shopkeeper at the New Market, ordering him to stump up an 80 penalty.

Sergeant Neale Adams said: "By targeting off-licences supplying alcohol to youths, we can tackle anti-social behaviour.

"Stopping young people getting drunk and causing damage and anti-social behaviour is a priority.

"We want to send a message to all off-licences in the town that we will be visiting your shops frequently.

"Young people trying to buy alcohol must be challenged.

"If you sell and are caught you will be issued with penalty notices and prosecuted by police or Trading Standards."

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