Children aged 14 are sold alcohol

Children as young as 14 are being sold alcohol in Sussex shops and pubs.

An investigation by Sussex Police in Uckfield discovered that every tested outlet in the town sold alcohol to two teenagers.

The 14 and 17-year-old children were sold alcopops including WKD and a bottle of wine, described by Sergeant Dave Price as "a general selection young people would go for".

He said: "It's another disappointing result.

"They are only ordinary children, not dressed up or made up to look older."

Wealden police officers have conducted several undercover tests on licensed premises in the past year.

Most past tests have resulted in 50 per cent pass rates for pubs and off-licences. But the problem has been increasing in the area - the previous operation showed only 34 per cent of premises passing the test.

This time the officers supervised two teenagers in Uckfield town centre on Thursday, November 30.

Every outlet illegally sold alcohol to the youngsters.

Plain-clothes police officers stood outside the seven pubs and shops to watch the children as they approached the counter.

The news comes as police launch a crackdown on under-age sales. They are furious that stores are, they claim, blatantly flouting the law to boost profits.

Fixed-penalty notices, an increasingly popular choice of punishment for public order offences, were issued to six of the offending premises.

The £80 fines were given to the members of staff selling the alcohol and a seventh licensee was reported to local magistrates.

Wealden Chief Inspector Neil Honnor said: "This causes me great concern.

"My officers are attempting to make it as difficult as possible for our young people to access alcohol. I would call on everyone in the licensing trade to help us.

"It is not our intention to penalise the people working in licensed premises but I would ask them to think very carefully about who they sell alcohol to.

"If they are in any doubt whatsoever about a person's age, check their identification."

More test-purchase operations are being planned to stamp out the illegal sales in the Wealden area.

Representatives of the drinks industry called on the Government to put the spotlight on under-age drinkers rather than licensees.

Richard Calderbank, owner of Broadway Nightclub in Uckfield and chairman of the local PubWatch scheme, said: "I have a lot of sympathy with pubs.

"The Government ought to throw more emphasis on people purchasing the drinks and fine them.

"Nightclubs like us have a 100 per cent ID rule on the door but a lot of pubs can't afford door staff and they just don't have time to ID everyone at the bar.

"It's hard to run a busy pub with the Christmas season coming up and most pubs will fail at some point.

"But off-licences shouldn't fail. They have time to ID everyone."

The Argus