Wheat Sheaf Inn.
Falkirk.
Town's bid to stop too young drinkers
A town's Publicans and police have introduced new measures in a bid to stamp out a plaque of under-age drinking.
A number of hotels in Falkirk have upped the minimum drinking age from 18 to 21. And the police have increased the number of visits they pay to the teenage tipplers haunts. A police spokesman said that the problem had been on the increase over the past couple of months.
Under 21 ban
"There seems to be more of these cases coming to light than we should be getting," he said. "However, we have been stepping up our activities to deal with this." The problem was highlighted this week when eight youths, two 16 year olds, and six 17 year olds, were each fined £5 at the town's Burgh Court for under-age drinking.
At the Park Hotel, Arnothill, Falkirk, where some of the youths were discovered, the management immediately slapped on an under 21 ban. "We don't want to scare away the 18 to 21 year olds, but we have our licence to think of and we have to protect ourselves," said a spokesman.
Abuse
The town's oldest pub is also considering banning under 21s. Alex Reid, of the Wheat Sheaf Inn said they had been getting large numbers of young people coming in at Weekends.
"It is very difficult to tell what age some of today's youngsters are. Anyone we think is under 18 we refuse to serve, but you have to stand a lot of abuse. "We are thinking of putting a ban on under 21s on Fridays and Saturdays." he said.
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