1215hrs, 03/06/08
Press Office, Fettes

A multi-agency team took to the streets of West Lothian on Friday night (May 30) in the biggest ever sweep in the long-term operation to tackle underage drinking in the community.

Police officers, special constables, drink counsellors from West Lothian Drug and Alcohol Services (WLDAS) and youth workers were involved in the initiative which covered a wide area, focussing on Armadale, Livingston, Broxburn and Linlithgow.

There are several components to the overall strategy:

·Operation Floorsweep seeks out youngsters who are drinking on the streets. During the evening 16 children were brought into Livingston Police Station, where their parents came to collect them, and they were given drink counselling and spoken to by a senior officer regarding the dangers of drinking at a young age. The majority of the children were around 14 and 15-years-old.

·Operation Froth continued to focus attention on test-purchasing in off-licence premises. It is refreshing to report all 16 premises passed the test with all staff refusing to serve the under-18's who attempted to buy alcohol under test conditions.

·Following intelligence, Operation Realtime carried out surveillance on Superway Licensed Grocer in Kingsport Avenue, Howden, Livingston. The licensee, Javed Iqubal, fully supports the initiative, which seeks to target adults buying drink for under-18's. This part of the operation has been running for several weeks and has resulted in a number of people being charged and reported to the Procurator Fiscal; most recently a 22-year-old man who was caught buying alcohol for a 15-year-old.

Chief Inspector Baird, who coordinates the overall operation from Livingston, commented this strategy of seeking out adults who buy drink for children will continue, and expand, in the next few weeks: "Hopefully this will make people stop and think of their actions before they consider buying drink for children."