Fines begin in binge drinking blitz

Fines begin in binge drinking blitz

Plans to hit bar staff who serve drunken customers with an £80 on-the-spot fine were due to come into force.

Police minister Hazel Blears also said another new on-the-spot fine targeting children who are caught buying alcohol will be introduced at the same time.

Each ticket will cost under-18s £50 and under-16s £30.

There will be huge problems with these fines, as deciding whether someone is too drunk to be served is very subjective.

The only time you see coopers in bars or clubs it is usually just a hen party from some town in Yorkshire.

it's really really difficult cos if you didnt serve all the drunk people then at 10 o clock in many bars then i doubt u would be serving anyone!

Quite a lot of bars have been asking people to proove they are 18 if they look under 21. I got asked in O Neils on friday, but I get asked every now and then cos I look young anyways

i always get ID'd in Tesco and the other day a shop woman asked me how old i was when i bought some cigarettes!

true but equally it's not the establishment's fault if you serve someone that you shouldnt be serving, you have to use your judgement

and how would they judge who the "right" person is after an interview.

e.g. a mormon who never drinks would have very different opinions on whether someone is drunk or capable of carrying on to someone who goes out and gets hammered every weekend. it's all about standards. and that comes down to education: you cant just employ people with the right view on who's drunk etc, it should be taught

Brid you are the voice of logic

Beer and wine should be legal for over 16's like in Europe, then under-age drinking wouldn't be so much a taboo, and less kids will drink as it won't be so "cool".

They'll just take hard drugs instead.

agreed. there is no youth drinking culture in europe like there is here

Then again - kids in europe are a lot more socially aware than the wee shites here. I blame (in this order): the government; consumerism; the parents; Noel Edmonds.

i got i.d'd in a bar in town the other week.. :wiggle:

its a load of huff, isn't gonna work, and it won't be enforced.

how do you identify the particular bar tender that has served the offender? what happens if everyone in the bar has served him? where do you draw the line between when the 'offeneder' is sober (within reason) at the bar when ordering the drink, then half an hour later goes outside and stoves someones head in??

it's always been illegal to serve someone who appears to be drunk in a pub - just now they fancy making some money off it and make it look they're tackling "the binge drinking society"

It's so easy to binge drink, most people do it most times they go out, it's only havin five pints!

""Binge drinking is defined as the consumption of roughly half the recommended weekly alcohol limits in a single drinking session i.e. 10 units for men (5 pints) and 7 units for women ( around 4 bottles of Bacardi Breezer)""

thats always happened though? i used to do that 10-12 years ago... it was a friday out in t'horsforth

thats is shit coz i work as a bar man at my local pub