Peterborough village Co-op set to have its licence reviewed after beer and Chardonnay sold to underage children

Trading Standards officers have asked Peterborough City Council to review the licence of the Co-op, in Eye, after alcohol was sold to children under the age of 18.

Officers made their recommendation after carrying out test purchases at the store in both August and October last year.

Police informed Trading Standards in May 2022 that they suspected alcohol was being sold to children that were underage at the shop.

This prompted the body to send out advice letters in relation to the sale of age restricted goods to a number of local businesses, including the Co-op in Eye.

On August 24, a volunteer – under the age of 18 – was sent by the body to buy a bottle of Lime Tree Chardonnay and was not challenged on their age or asked to show ID.

The seller was wearing a ‘Challenge 25’ badge and had overridden till prompts and had allegedly received underage sales training only days before the test purchase following an in-house test purchase failure.

After this failure, Co-op Head Office was notified and officers visited again on October 27 to carry out the same exercise.

On this occasion, a volunteer under the age of 18 was allowed to buy a can of IPA beer without being challenged.

The seller was not the same person as in August but is said to have received underage sales training two or three times since starting work at the store in September.

Following the completion of their investigation, Trading Standards filed for the store to have its licence reviewed under the Licensing Objective ‘the prevention of crime and disorder’ and ‘the protection of children from harm.’

A deadline of February 7 has been set for representations regarding the application to be received.