Will booze sale ban work?

The mother, who has asked that neither she nor her daughter is identified, is furious that, until last week, when local off-licences imposed a ban on the sale of alcohol to people under 21 from 3pm onwards on Fridays and Saturdays, the problem of underage drinking in Devizes had not been tackled seriously enough.

The woman had a call from the ambulance service at about 9.30pm on the Friday before last to say that her daughter was being treated for the effects of alcohol poisoning at Devizes Community Hospital.

She drove to the hospital and found her daughter barely conscious but out of danger. She said: "She was in a terrible state. She had vomited several times and could barely keep her eyes open. She has now recovered, but I am so angry that she could have died because this problem has been ignored for so long.

"I have heard since that when she collapsed, the other girls who were with her just stood around. She was vomiting and could have choked to death. It is only because a young lad from the youth club came running over and shouted, "turn her on her side," that she is with me today. I could have lost her."

The daughter had told her mother she was going to the Southbroom Centre, where Devizes youth club meets each evening. But the mother alleges that young people are free to come and go from the club and meet older teenagers out on the Green, who sell them alcohol from local off-licences. On the night in question, it is claimed that vodka, cider and the alcopop WKD were on offer to youngsters.

The mother said: "My daughter is not used to hard drink. We moved here from Southampton, which you would think would be a much harder place, but we never had problems like this there. My daughter was introduced to drink in Devizes.

"A lot of mums around here are saying their teenage daughters come home smelling of drink.

"There is so much peer pressure on these kind of things. They see it as a grown-up thing to do, to get drunk out of your head. And a lot of alcohol is readily available.

"The nurses at Devizes hospital were great but they weren't surprised. "They see this week after week. Devizes has got a big problem here and it is high time that the schools, the police and the youth club all worked together to find a solution.

"The school should warn the pupils of the dangers of drinking. Why aren't they saying things in assembly?"

Since the Gazette announced that town off-licences were instituting a ban on the sales of alcohol to teenagers from 3pm on Fridays and Saturdays for a trial period, the story has caught the national imagination.

Many national newspapers and TV programmes have picked it up and Inspector Pete Bowerbank of Devizes police was due to take part this morning in a studio discussion on underage drinking in Nicky Campbell's new programme, Now You're Talking!

Supermarkets and other off-licence holders around the town said they had had a few complaints about the ban but, on the whole, the reasons for it were understood.

Bill Baldwin, manager of Sainsbury's in Monday Market Street, said: "We probably had about six inquiries about sales to people between 18 and 21 on Friday and a similar number of Saturday. On the whole, they understood why we were doing it.

"My staff intercepted people in the wine and spirits department and explained the situation to avoid any embarrassment."

The ban on sales to under-21s is on trial until the next meeting of the Devizes Pubwatch scheme on April 5, when it will be reviewed.

It has not received universal approval. David Hooper from West View Crescent, Devizes, contacted the Gazette to say: "I would imagine it must be about five per cent, if that, of 18 to 21-year-olds who buy and sell beer to youngsters under 18. So what is the solution? Well, Devizes traders reckon you punish the 95 per cent of genuine 18 to 21-year-olds who may have even fought for their country.

"The drug pushers in Devizes must be rubbing their hands together. Teenagers who are looking for a high will be easy pickings!"