Cheap alcohol 'fuelling trouble'

The Sale of cheap alcohol in Swindon centre is fuelling binge boozing, as the hospital is having to deal with teenagers having their stomachs pumped.

Swindon has one of the highest rates of under-18s being admitted to A&E for binge drinking in the country, according to a Government-sponsored report from KPMG.

And the figures are backed up by statistics obtained by the Adver showing 80 teenagers were admitted to the Great Western Hospital for alcohol misuse from August 2006 to August 2007.

Service delivery manager Steven Arnold at Swindon Ambulance station said: “The number of alcohol related incidents we attend in the town is a concern and the problem is worse at the weekend.”

He said that paramedics mostly had to deal with people being incapacitated or injured through drink-fuelled violence.

Consultants KPMG visited Swindon and other towns on behalf of the Home Office to find out if clubs and bars were meeting their social responsibility of discouraging binge drinking.

Researchers visited 88 pubs, clubs and off-licences in Swindon over a five-day period in February.

In the town centre, the researchers found 23 per cent of premises promoted alcohol with the use of sexual images and eight per cent offered free drinks to certain customers.

They saw alcohol being sold to three drunk people and what appeared to be four youngsters.

Their report of the inspection, released yesterday, said finding cheap drinks was a major motivation for punters in the town.

“Purchases and custom appeared to be largely down to the price of alcohol rather than entertainment or atmosphere,” said the report.

It said chain pubs offering cheap drinks were the only busy bars in town.

Richard Palusinski, head of community safety for the Community Safety Partnership said changes have been put in place since KPMG’s visit including the launch of an Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.

He said: “We have a credible document that says we will help people stop harming themselves from the misuse of alcohol.

“We are reviewing the licensing of premises that are acting in a way that is unhelpful to the people of Swindon.

“There is a dual responsibility. Yes the licensees are responsible for making sure they sell appropriately-priced alcohol to the right people but I don’t think we can escape the fact that there is a responsibility with the individual.”

Jane Leaman, Joint Director of Public Health for Swindon PCT and Swindon Council said the trust was working with the police and council through the Community Safety Partnership to raise “awareness of excess drinking and the potential impacts on people’s health.”

The KPMG report –titled Review of the Social Responsibility Standards for the Production and Sale of Alcoholic Drinks – said traders were failing to put drinkers’ safety first.

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: “At best the standards are being applied in a fragmented way, at worst in many places alcohol is being sold and marketed irresponsibly.”

Researchers from KPMG visited North Norfolk, Coventry, Hackney, Harrogate, Manchester, Tyneside and Newquay as well as Swindon.

Swindon Advertiser