Pub chain boss attacks underage "entrapment"

The boss of pub chain JD Wetherspoon has hit out at the way that police are targeting underage pub drinkers.

According to the Scotsman on Sunday, chairman Tim Martin wrote in an internal magazine that "the government should avoid 'showboating' with high-profile campaigns, designed to entrap 17-year-olds using pubs", because it "utterly avoids the real issue".

"Well-run pubs, providing a convivial melting pot for society, are a fabulous institution and should not be victimised in a misplaced attempt to solve alcohol abuse," he argued.

Mr Martin's comments have attracted some support. Tory MSP Bill Aitken told the Scotsman on Sunday that police efforts would be better directed at penalising off-licences that sell alcohol to under-18s.

However, other groups have pointed out that licensees, rather than the police, should be enforcing the law.

Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, told the paper: "[Mr Martin's] claim that 99.9% of adults started drinking in pubs at 15 or 16 proves far too many licensees haven't been in the habit of enforcing the law."

Meanwhile, supermarket chain ASDA has today announced a number of measures designed to tackle underage drinking. It says that, from April 7, it will stop the sale of alcohol in its town centre stores between midnight and 6am.