'Worry' as six North Ayrshire shops caught selling alcohol to underage kids

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Six Irvine and Kilwinning shops have been slapped with warnings after being caught selling alcohol to underage kids.The findings of sting operations in the two towns have been branded "very disappointing and worrying".The Safer North Ayrshire Partnership (SNAP) carried out checks at nine shops with only three passing inspections.The other six were found to be selling to underage young people and were all given a warning with the promise of further, stricter punishments if caught again.SNAP is a multi-agency group – including North Ayrshire Council Trading Standards, Housing, the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership, the Adult and Child Protection Committees, Police Scotland, The Third Sector Interface, Public Health Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue and Community Justice Ayrshire – with the remit of making North Ayrshire a safe and secure place to live in.The recent investigation into the sale of under-age alcohol is the latest exercise undertaken by SNAP.Earlier this year, a similar operation was carried out, where 23 test purchase visits for Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Products were conducted, of which four premises failed.Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for green environment and economy, said: “The findings are clearly very disappointing and worrying but we hope that this exercise will help educate these premises to change their practices and show a far more responsible attitude to the sale of underage alcohol.“The SNAP is there to look after our communities and make them safer places for everyone.

It was set up to allow these different agencies to work together on shared issues.“We will continue to carry out exercises and work together to try and make North Ayrshire a safer place to live.” Read next: Don't miss the