Almost half of pubs sold alcohol to underage teens

Nearly 50 per cent of pubs tested by Trading Standards officers in Newbury sold alcohol to an underage volunteer. Pubs apppear to have a worse track-record than off-licences.

The test purchases, conducted in 21 pubs by underage volunteers during the past year, were part of Operation Drinksafe - a multi-agency operation to reduce underage sales. It seems pubs are worse offenders than off-licences in the area.