OVER a quarter of adults asked to buy alcohol for under aged children did so in a test purchase operation.
Council and police officers joined retailers and two 15-year-olds outside shops in South Ockendon trying to find out if adults would buy alcohol for children.
The operation was part of the Thurrock Community Alcohol Partnership (TCAP) action plan to combat what are known as proxy alcohol sales.
The multi-agency team included council officers from trading standards and licensing and Essex Police as well as local alcohol retailers.
For two hours the pair of 15-year-old volunteers stood outside off licensed premises asking adult passers-by to buy them alcohol.
Over 25 per cent of people asked went inside and selected the requested alcohol for the children. But as they chose the bottle they were met by a police officer and licensing staff.
Cllr Phil Smith, Thurrock Council’s portfolio holder for public protection, said: “This operation produced shocking results and could have resulted in every one of those people being issued with a £90 fixed penalty notice.
“This time they were let off with a stern warning, but people should beware. We will be doing this again and next time we will not be as lenient.”
Although it is an offence to purchase alcohol on behalf of a person younger than 18 all the adults involved were given with an information leaflet on the harms and risks associated with children consuming alcohol and details of the law around purchasing it for them.
The TCAP is working with retailers to ensure sales of alcohol are not being made to children. Educating the public on the harms/risks and legalities of proxy purchasing is another way of protecting children, and cutting off their access to alcohol.
The team expect to repeat the exercise over the coming months and warns people that next time the information leaflet will be accompanied by the £90 fine.
If people are aware of people purchasing alcohol for children or places where children a regularly found asking adults to buy for them, TCAP encourage them to report it online at https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/forms/underage-sales-report
