Asda to prosecute under-18s who try to buy alcohol

Children caught trying to buy alcohol from one of the country's leading supermarkets face being prosecuted.

Any under-18 found attempting to buy drink at an Asda store will be reported to the police.

The company says its will urge officers to take the offender to court. If they refuse, Asda says it will consider bringing a private prosecution.

The chance of an under-age drinker being punished for trying to buy alcohol was only one in 300,000 last year, when nearly 3million offences resulted in ten prosecutions.

"The current system is clearly not effective enough," said an Asda spokesman. "When anyone under-age is found trying to buy alcohol in one of our stores we will call the police and urge and expect the police to take action themselves.

"If no action is taken we will on some occasions bring our own prosecution. In most cases this will target repeat offenders."

The offence carries a maximum fine of £1,000, but Asda said its main aim in bringing a court case would be to act as a deterrent.

"We are giving offenders a clear message that we have the right to prosecute them ourselves even if the police decide not to prosecute," the spokesman added.

"We want to make it clear that we have zero tolerance towards this sort of behaviour."

The move is part of a package of measures by the store chain aimed at curbing access to alcohol.

Asda will also double the number of spot checks carried out at its 352 UK stores to ensure staff do not sell alcohol to minors.

An independent firm called Serve Legal carries out test purchases to see whether checkout staff ask young shoppers for identification.

From April 7, Asda will stop selling alcohol between midnight and 6am at around 100 stores where it is currently available.

It will also stop selling fruit-flavoured shooter drinks with a high alcohol content.

Asda said its measures aimed to tackle both under-age drinking and alcohol-fuelled late-night crime.

Doctors last week criticised the supermarkets for not doing enough to tackle problem drinking.

The British Medical Association warned that cheap alcohol was fuelling a binge-drinking epidemic.

It condemned supermarkets willing to sell booze at a loss as well as twoforone offers and other promotions.

It also called for higher taxes on drinks, proportionate to the amount of alcohol in them.

Tesco was accused of "staggering hypocrisy" after saying it was keen to join the fight against binge drinking - but it claimed it was powerless to do anything to end price-cut promotions because of restrictions imposed by fair trade laws.

Instead, it wanted to discuss new laws with the Government to ensure "responsible pricing".

It has been illegal to sell alcohol to under-18s since 1916, under measures introduced to control the excessive drinking of munitions workers during the First World War.

In 2003, it became an offence for under 18s to buy alcohol.