Tougher alcohol laws to rein in drunken Britain

STRICTER laws to battle binge-drinking will be unveiled today in a bid to end what Home Secretary Jacqui Smith called scenes of “people lying on the pavements and being sick”.

BATTLE Pubs clubs and shops face a ban on irresponsible price offers BATTLE: Pubs, clubs and shops face a ban on “irresponsible” price offers

Pubs, clubs and shops face a ban on "irresponsible" price offers and will be forced to offer smaller glasses after ministers said a voluntary code had failed.

Police will also get tougher powers to confiscate alcohol from youngsters and fine them and to prosecute retailers who sell drink to underage shoppers.

Fines for drinking in public in around 600 town centres where it is banned will rise from £500 to a maximum £2,500.

Ms Smith said the kind of promotions she wanted outlawed were the "drink as much as you can" for a set price, as well as those offering free drink to women and games that encouraged binge-drinking.

The new code could also force all outlets to display the number of alcohol units in products.

"I don't think any of us want to have our city centres with people lying on the pavements and being sick," Ms Smith told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

But Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said extended licensing hours were to blame.

"Labour's response has simply been to pass more laws and regulations which they then fail to enforce. This is more of the same," he said.

Industry body the Portman Group defended self-regulation. Chief executive David Poley said Britain's system was "world class" and should be championed, not abolished.

Dozens of "irresponsibly marketed" drinks had been removed from sale and more than 1,500 products and promotions scrutinised before launch.

The task was to make drunkenness as socially unacceptable as drink-driving by enforcing existing laws, he said.

However, the Government is thought to have retreated from some measures including a ban on supermarkets selling heavily discounted drink because of fears it would alienate voters in the economic downturn.

Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster said the package failed to tackle the real problem of "pocket money priced alcohol in our supermarkets and off-licences" and called for minimum prices for alcohol.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?