Policy & Practice: Numbers game - Alcohol sales

The fourth Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign found some supermarkets were more likely to sell alcohol to young people than others

Source: Home Office

When underage young people tried to buy alcohol from supermarkets in England and Wales as part of a government sting operation, they managed to get served on almost one in five attempts.

Out of 1,346 attempted sales, 244 were successful; Kwik Save had the worst results with just over a quarter of approaches by underage young people resulting in a sale. The majority of pub and bar chains had an even worse record, with an average of one in three young people able to buy alcohol underage. More than two in five young people succeeded in buying alcohol from pubs in the Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises chain, and more than one in three from Enterprise Inns. Mike Craik, lead on alcohol issues at the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "This campaign demonstrates the work of police officers who are working hard to clamp down on irresponsible retailers." Young people in the East Midlands found it easiest to buy alcohol from off-licences, with one in three approaches resulting in a sale, while off-licences in the Northeast, Northwest and West Midlands were the least likely to sell alcohol to minors, all with two in 10 approaches resulting in a sale.