- Swindon police say they are disappointed that they were called out to nearly 90 alcohol-related incidents in Swindon last week. It resulted in 39 people being arrested for offences such as actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm, breach of the peace, being drunk and disorderly, criminal damage and affray. From Monday, July 24, a total of 198 alcohol-related incidents were reported across the county, leading to 96 arrests. The arrests are part of Wiltshire police's Operation XS which deals with alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour. Swindon Advertiser
- It is too easy for under-age youngsters to buy booze from Coventry off-licences, a senior city policeman has said. Chief Superintendent Clive Burgess made the comment after revealing that half of all off-licences tested recently sold alcohol to children. Police sent underage customers into off-licences in the south of the city to try to buy booze. In 74 test purchases, 37 off-licences sold alcohol to people aged under 18. icCoventry
- New statistics from Lancashire County Council show that 344 pupils have had to be temporarily excluded from schools for drug and alcohol reasons in the past three years. The problem is getting worse. In 2005/6 alone so far, 143 pupils have been excluded. That compares to 122 for the whole of 2004/5 and 79 in 2003/4. Even worse, 20 pupils have been permanently excluded from schools since 2003, for serious drug and alcohol matters. Lancashire Evening Post
- More than a third of young people admit they have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the classroom, according to a survey. Boys were more likely to turn up to school under the influence (41%) compared to 29% of girls. Nearly half of young people (49%) thought they acted stupidly while drunk, but 17% conceded they needed to drink to relax. The Tpoll survey, commissioned by the music channel MTV, quizzed 1,118 people aged between 16 and 24. The Guardian
- Two of the UK’s largest supermarket chains have hit back at claims that major food retailers promote irresponsible drinking through cheap pricing policies. In a submission to the Competition Commission, which is investigating the grocery retail market, brewer Scottish & Newcastle UK (S&NUK) said it believed that major chains were selling alcohol on the cheap to lure consumers into their stores. This was not “consistent with the promotion of responsible drinking,” S&NUK said in its statement. However Tesco, the country’s largest supermarket chain, rejected this. A spokeswoman for group said: “We have very strict procedures for dealing with the sale of alcohol and our research shows that most of the alcohol purchased by our customers is bought as part of the weekly family shop and consumed at home.” The Publican More detail on S&N's complaints in the Morning Advertiser
- Police in Doncaster hailed a crackdown on under-age drinking a success after confiscating more than 100 bottles and cans from juveniles in one evening. Officers from Doncaster North Safer Neighbourhood Team also seized five bags full of alcoholic drinks from youths and issued three on-the-spot fines to off-licences which sold alcohol to under- 18s during the operation, foc-used on Askern, Bentley, Car-croft, Skellow and Woodlands. They recovered cannabis valued at £300, made an arrest for a public order offence and took a boy of 15 who fell unconscious through alcohol abuse to hospital. Yorkshire Post Today
- Scotland: A row has broken out over plans to give alcohol to children as young as five. Scottish Executive adviser Jack Law believes the practice would cut binge drinking among youngsters by taking the mystery out of alcohol. Mr Law's plan to give alcohol to children as young as five has been dismissed by health experts. They have warned it could lead to children drinking even more at a younger age. Mr Law, the chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, is working with Scottish ministers to draft a new alcohol policy to tackle the nation's appalling health record. He has suggested a number of measures to tackle binge-drinking, including encouraging parents to set an example by drinking responsibly. Evening Times More on this from the Scotsman
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