Licensing test purchases conducted in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury

Officers from the Cheltenham Licensing Team ran a test purchase operation in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury yesterday where a teenager attempted to buy alcohol from shops.

This saw officers visit three shops in Tewkesbury, which all passed, and seven shops in Cheltenham with only three passing.

The operation involved a teenage boy who is under 18, he attempted to buy alcohol to gauge whether local businesses are being responsible and abiding by licensing laws.

The teenager entered the venues that were being tested accompanied by officers in plain clothes, who observed their attempt to buy alcohol.

The test purchaser is always careful not to lie about their age and does not produce any ID if asked.

Completing the test purchases allowed police to ensure that licenced premises are meeting their objective under the Licensing Act to ‘prevent children coming to harm’ and enforce any breaches through education, letters or warning’s, tickets or taking the premise to review in certain circumstances.

PC Jeremy Sansom said: “We take operations like this very seriously and will be revisiting the failing stores to give words of advice to the management teams and the operation will be re-run in the near future.

“The penalties for failing a test can include a fine of up to £5,000, prosecution and withdrawal of the premise’s licence to sell alcohol.”