Gordon Birtwistle & Burnley Liberal Democrats

Fighting for real change for Burnley and Padiham

SCANDAL: BACK-DOOR ALCOHOL SALES TO KIDS

August 12th, 2009 |

The step-son of a Nelson Labour councillor have been implicated in selling alcohol to children out of the back door of an off-licence in Anglesey Avenue, Burnley.

On Friday 26th June a local resident from Anglesey Avenue, Burnley contacted the Police informing them that he had seen two 15 year old children being served alcohol from the back door of the Lifestyle Express Off Licence situated at 3 / 5 Anglesey Avenue, Burnley.

Later that day a Police Officer witnessed a 14 year old girl being served two 2 litre bottles of cider from the back door of the same premises by the shop assistant, Atif Ansar.

Although she was not formally in charge of the shop at the time, Nelson Labour Coun Eileen Ansar has since taken over as the supervisor. Coun Ansar is said to have made commitments to residents about controlling the sale of alcohol through the shop which she described as hers in public meetings. The premises licence is held by Mr Mohammed Ansar.

In a report to councillors, licensing officers said, “The residents of Anglesey Avenue have been plagued by alcohol related juvenile nuisance and disorder for a considerable period of time and it is the Police’s belief that availability of alcohol to children from these premises is the catalyst for this nuisance and disorder.

“The sale of alcohol to children is a particularly serious offence on its own, but to sell alcohol to children aged 14 and 15 out of the back door further compounds this offence and highlights a total disregard by the premises licence holder and staff, of the law and also serves to totally undermine the 4 licensing objectives.”

Coun Darren Reynolds said, “This type of thing has been going on in Burnley for a long time. It has got to stop and we as a Council are now going to put a stop to it.

“The Licensing Sub-Committee will have to make its own decision on the case. It’s not a political committee, so we can’t just tell it what to do. But anyone with an ounce of common sense can see the damage under-aged sales do to families, to communities and to the health of the children themselves.”

“If someone is making sales out of the back door, it shows that they know that what they’re doing is wrong, and that they’re trying to hide it. If someone who is supposed to be an upstanding member of the community is involved, then I feel that’s about as serious as it gets, and the maximum penalty is called for.”

Burnley’s Licensing sub-committee will meet to hear the case on the 19th August.

The Council report is here: http://www.burnley.gov.uk/downloads/_4__19.08.09_Lifestyle_Express_Anglesey_Ave.pdf