Morrisons supermarket in Weymouth escapes a booze ban

12:20pm Wednesday 11th November 2009

By Laura Kitching

MORRISONS in Weymouth has saved its licence to sell alcohol after agreeing to tighter conditions.

Bosses at the Dorchester Road store pledged to train 12 personal licence holders to provide extra supervision for checkout operators selling alcohol.

They also agreed to tighter measures to control the sales of alcohol at a review hearing, including additional training to any member of staff who deals with such sales and written records of all challenges and refusals.

It comes after the store sold booze to teenagers on three occasions during test purchases in Weymouth and Portland in the last two years.

The Weymouth supermarket makes £75,000 from alcohol sales every week, out of a £750,000 to £800,000 a week gross, a borough council licensing sub-committee meeting was told.

Committee members review-ed Morrisons’ licence after calls by Dorset Police and Trading Standards on the grounds of ‘prevention of crime and disorder’ and ‘protection of children from harm’ respectively.

Solicitor Jon Wallsgrove, on behalf of Morrisons, said five extra supervisors had already been trained – to bring the store’s total to nine – and three others were awaiting training.

He said the aim was to ensure a personal licence holder is available on the premises at all times alcohol is being sold, save in exceptional circumstances of emergency or illness.

Committee members heard the last two test purchases occurred after the store introduced a Task 25 policy – to challenge anyone buying alcohol who looked younger than 25 – and the staff involved had been dismissed.

Mr Wallsgrove said: “Morrisons accepts responsibility entirely and offers their apologies.

“This has incurred a great deal of time and effort for everybody in this room.”

The committee heard that two weeks ago Morrisons was voted ‘Off Licence of the Year’ due to being a ‘leader in implementing Task 25.’ Committee chairman Councillor Hazel Bruce told the review hearing that ‘the reputation of our town means a lot to us.’ She said committee members had agreed to add the conditions to Weymouth’s Morrisons’ licence.

The store must provide refresher training for staff dealing with alcohol, and have a personal licence holder on the premises at all times alcohol is sold, save in exceptional circumstances.

In addition, a designated member of staff must monitor staff performance for seeking identification.