Booze tagged to curb youth nuisance

Middleton is to be the test-bed for a new scheme that will attempt to curb underage drinking and youth nuisance by cutting off the supply of alcohol from off-licences.

Rochdale Council has joined with the police and local off-licences to launch a 'Bottle Marking Scheme' in the Grimshaw Lane area from 4 March.

The off-licences taking part will put unique indelible marks on alcohol bottles likely to be bought by young people, allowing the drink to be traced back to the shop where it was bought.

Grimshaw Lane was chosen after residents complained about the high levels of alcohol-fuelled youth nuisance and anti-social behaviour in their area. Following meetings with residents, the police and the council's trading standards officers decided to try a bottle marking scheme as similar schemes have been successful in other parts of the country.

Rochdale Council's cabinet member for the environment and sustainability Councillor Wera Hobhouse said: "Many communities in the borough are fed-up with the nuisance and petty crime that results when young people can easily get hold of booze. To help tackle this problem, we are going to try 'bottle marking' in Middleton first. If this innovative scheme makes a real difference, the council will back its use in other booze-fuelled nuisance hotspots in the borough."

Four local off-licences have now agreed to take part in the scheme, C and D Trading, Bargain Booze, Premier Late Shop, and the Corner Shop on Baytree Lane. It is hoped that others will join the scheme in the future.

Police community support officers will try to identify any bottles they find underage drinkers using. The council's street cleaning teams will tell trading standards about any empty bottles they find on local streets, in parks or in areas where groups of young people are known to drink alcohol.

The council is also asking for local resident's help. Anyone who finds alcohol bottles in the Grimshaw Lane area is being asked to phone trading standards on 01706 924179. For health and safety reasons, members of the public are advised not to remove bottles themselves, but to phone trading standards instead.