Council leader says regulate the sale of alcohol

8.29.40pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 25th Oct 2007

Councillor Taylor at Asda with shoppers.

Leader of Rochdale Council Alan Taylor is looking at extending the 'Good Guy' scheme for fireworks to alcohol. The Good Guy scheme, which was pioneered in Rochdale last year has been rolled out across much of Greater Manchester. It currently allows retailers to refuse the sale of fireworks before 15 October and after 10 November. Only a selected few retailers are allowed to have a year-round license to sell fireworks. The Council are now looking at more ways to regulate the sale of alcohol in the Borough.

Council Taylor said: "The Good Guy fireworks scheme has been a huge success for our Borough. I know that last year reports of firework nuisance were down by a third and underage sales also dropped. That is why we are looking at ways in which this scheme could be adapted and rolled out across our Borough to help tackle alcohol related problems. To get all traders to sign up to best practise encourages responsibility - that it what we want to see with all our alcohol licensee's.

"Last week, a report published by the North West Public Health Observatory highlighted the dangers and problems that alcohol abuse is causing our Borough. The report indicated that 7% of people aged over 16 are drinking dangerous amounts and we came fifth in an overall league table of Boroughs within the North West of people drinking alcohol at dangerous levels. These facts just highlight a need for us to come up with new ways to tackle alcohol related problems and I feel that adapting our Good Guy scheme would be a great way of doing this.

"This council is not only committed to combating drink related problems in terms of health but also the social problems that come along with this as well. Things like drinking on the streets and drink related violence also need to be looked at and are aspects that I feel can be reduced by better regulation on the sale of alcohol in our Borough."

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen has long called for stricter controls on the sale of alcohol. He said: "I back what this Council are trying to do. It is not about restricting the hours that alcohol is sold in. It is about extending the responsibility to all traders. It is clear that only a minority let other traders down.

"The Good Guy Scheme is all about adopting a united approach to the sale of fireworks. I would like to see a similar voluntary code that forces all licensees to demand clear identification and to not sell at ridiculously cheap prices and at such bulk that encourage binge drinkers.

"I am sure residents in Rochdale will welcome our tougher stance on the sale of alcohol."