Offies take cheap booze off the shelves in local crackdown

Cheap alcohol is being removed from off-licence shelves in a bid to curb anti-social behaviour in Newcastle. Off licenses are cooperating with police in a scheme which runs from this week until the end of September

A perry wine, which sells for around £1.79 a 75cl bottle, has become popular with underage drinkers -  so-called “Lambrini kids” - who cause trouble on estates and hang around street corners.

The bottles came off the shelves at all 15 off-licences in the Benwell area of Newcastle as local traders joined forces with Northumbria Police to help curb the menace caused by underage drinkers.

Police in Newcastle launched their campaign to quell disorder during the summer months in particular and off-licences in Benwell agreed to withdraw drinks popular with underage youngsters from their shelves. Now the traders have agreed not to sell 75cl bottles of sparkling perry wine during the summer holidays.

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