02/12/2004

Police crackdown on underage drinking in north Belfast

Police in north Belfast have seized nearly 500 bottles of alcohol in an ongoing crackdown against underage drinking.

The latest operation ran across two weekends at the end of October (29-30) and November (26-27) and is just one of a number of ongoing initiatives aimed at tackling the problem of underage drinking in this part of the city.

During the recent operation a total of 18 people were reported to the Youth Diversion Officer while eight other people were reported to Belfast City Council for on-street drinking.

Chief Inspector Colin Taylor of North Belfast DCU said: “Police are working with a number of partner agencies to try to deal with underage drinking in an innovative and effective way.

“However, parents also have a key role to play – they need to know where their children are at nights and what they are getting up especially during the forthcoming Christmas holidays.”

Regulatory Services Manager for Belfast City Council James Cunningham said they regularly received complaints about youths causing annoyance when alcohol had been consumed.

“The Council is committed to working in partnership with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on this issue.,” he said.

"We offer street advice and when necessary prosecute offenders to help to reduce the number of people consuming alcohol in public places.”

The recent crackdown follows on from Operation ‘Alcopop’ in June during which police carried out the first test purchases of alcohol and detected eight out of 14 off-licences selling alcohol to teenagers aged between 13 and 16-years-old.

(MB)

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