Five of eight shops in Crook and Willington fail to learn lessons of others in booze stings
FIVE shops in Crook, Willington and Howden-le-Wear were penalised by police this week after selling alcohol to a 15-year-old girl.
The teen, who was working for officers from the Crook and District Neighbourhood police, managed to buy wine from Sunnybrow Newsmarket, Bargain Booze Plus on Church Street and Local on Hope Street in Crook and BP Keystore in Howden-le-Wear.
She also bought a bottle of blue WKD from Londis in Willington High Street.
Three other Willington shops including the Co-op, Spar and Maan Brothers passed the test by refusing to serve the girl.
If challenged by a seller the teen was unable to lie about either having ID or her age. Those who sold her alcohol were visited by uniformed officers who issued an £80 fine.
The operation was the first of its kind in the area and was designed to target the supply of alcohol to young people, a key factor in anti-social behaviour.
Police were also especially keen to see that sellers were sticking to the Challenge 21 agreement which means if they aren’t convinced a buyer is over 21 they should ask for ID to verify the age.
PC Dave Turner from Crook Neighbourhood team ran the operation and hailed it as a success. He said:
“Obviously this is the first we have done so it was good to see several shops passing. We would encourage them to keep asking for ID. However, there is clearly room for improvement and we shall be testing again in the future to see that lessons have been learnt.
“The Challenge 21 scheme is an important tool in our battle against underage drinkers and we would urge all shopkeepers and sellers to abide to it. Alcohol fuelled anti-sociable behaviour is a top priority for us and we would encourage the whole community, including shopkeepers, to help us tackle it head on.”