Two Southampton hotels banned from selling alcohol

Two Southampton hotels caught selling alcohol to underage customers for a second time in three months have been hit with temporary bans.

Police and Trading Standards officers visited seven hotels and three off licences on 12 October, with a 15-year-old volunteer carrying out test purchases.

At four of the hotels, a member of staff sold alcohol to our volunteer and was issued with a £90 fixed penalty ticket.

The hotels that failed the test purchases were:

• Ibis Budget, West Quay Road
• The Star Hotel, High Street
• Ibis, West Quay Road
• Holiday Inn, Herbert Walker Avenue

All four premises will be subject to follow up visits from licensing teams to identify areas of improvement and will be targeted in future test purchasing operations.

Temporary bans on selling alcohol have been issued to The Star Hotel (2 to 8 December) and Ibis Budget (20 December to 2 January) for persistently selling to children.

PC Brian Swallow, licensing officer for Southampton, said: “The aim of this joint operation with Trading Standards was to ensure that the age of customers was being correctly verified.

“We’re pleased that six of the premises visited passed the spot checks and are taking a responsible approach to preventing underage alcohol sales.

“We are though incredibly disappointed to have such a high failure rate and to have two repeat failures.

“Issuing bans for these two hotels sends out a clear message that the selling of alcohol to children will be dealt with robustly.

“All four hotels are working with us to ensure the correct procedures and staff training are in place.

“Operations like this reduce the likelihood of young people being involved in anti-social behaviour, becoming a victim of crime or being taken to hospital for medical treatment.”

Cllr Dave Shields, Cabinet Member for Health & Community Safety at Southampton City Council, said:

“The safety of children is a key objective of Southampton City Council.

“We will continue to work with Hampshire Constabulary and other partners to ensure that licensed premises are properly managed and to prevent the sale of alcohol to children.”