By Andrew Jarret

THE AVAILABILITY of cheap white cider and strong tonic wine has been drastically reduced in Arbroath as local shopkeepers sign up to the ‘Arbroath Initiative’.

Every alcohol retailer in the town, except one, has agreed to voluntarily remove the products from their shelves in a bid to help tackle the underage drinking menace.

The initiative began after Uddhab Bhattarai, of the West Port Grocers, stopped selling the teenage tipplers’ drinks of choice.

Encouraged by local councillors, all the other off-licences and stores in the town, except those run by the Co-op, have now followed suit.

Councillors Peter Nield and David Fairweather returned to licensed outlets at the weekend to see if owners had considered the removal suggestion.

“Independent shops have given us tremendous support and posters signifying what they have chosen to do to reduce the underage and binge drinking problem will be displayed in their windows soon,” said Mr Fairweather.

Mr Nield added, “Indeed, Party Time in Fisheracre have gone even further than we could have imagined. To enter the shop a customer must be 21 or over, unless they are accompanied by someone who is clearly over 21 years of age, and as well as removing certain products they are adopting an under 25 and no identification means no sale policy.

“Cost Cutters (Fisheracre) is in the process of portioning off their off-sales and joining the West Port Grocers by removing the cheap white cider and the tonic wine from their store along with Sams Store (Ponderlaw), and Best Way (Mayfield).

“Morrisons made a decision not to sell the tonic wine and they no longer sell pre-packed shot drinks, do not have free offers on alcohol, and have joined the Task 21 scheme. An excellent example for such a major player.

“We are both a little disappointed in the other national stores that did not feel they could take part, but respect their decision.”

A spokesperson for the Lothian Borders and Angus Co-operative said, “We currently operate a Challenge 21 policy in relation to alcohol sales and have done for some time.

“We believe that point of sale controls properly operated and enforced is the way for the responsible retailer to address the problems of alcohol abuse. The restriction of product will deny our customers choice and lead the binge drinker to the next most available product.”

Both councillors said they would like to thank all the shops that have taken this opportunity to “try and do something positive.”

“We are realistic that this is not going to solve underage drinking but the evidence so far is it will have an effect in reducing anti-social behaviour and this can be a first step,” Mr Nield added.