Under-21 drink ban to be examined

Angus councillors have agreed to consider banning under-21s from buying alcohol from off-licenses on Friday and Saturday nights.

The idea was proposed by Councillor Donald Morrison, who was concerned about underage drinking in Arbroath.

He believes a similar scheme in West Lothian has helped reduce anti-social behaviour.

However, concerns were raised at a council meeting about unfairly penalising responsible drinkers.

The local authority will now investigate the feasibility of introducing a pilot scheme preventing under-21s buying alcohol between 1800 BST and 2300 BST on Friday and Saturday nights.

'Social problem'

The ban would only apply to off-licences and would not include pubs and clubs.

Mr Morrison believes such a project would make it much harder for underage teenagers to get their hands on drink.

He said: "Nowadays under-18s are seeing it as their right to drink. There's no longer: "I know I'm doing bad, if I get caught I'm in big trouble."

"We have heard stories of youngsters drinking in parks where eight-year-olds or seven-year-olds are playing on the swings, and that's only in Arbroath.

"Angus is no different from any other area in Scotland, it's a social problem."

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