Large quantities of alcohol have been seized from underage teenagers and adults suspected of supplying alcohol to minors as part of a recent licensing operation in Hook and Rotherwick.

The operation involved increased cycle patrols throughout February and a high visibility licensing operation on Friday, March 7.

As part of the overt licensing checks on Friday, officers used special testing kits to check premises for the presence of illegal substances.

This involved swabbing surfaces that may have been used to prepare or take drugs from. The swab was then fed into a machine which provides a digital read out of substances identified. It is very sensitive and can identify minute traces of a drug.

Pubs were tested for drugs and a number of substances were found at different locations. Landlords were given advice on how to prevent drugs being taken on their premises and asked to be on their guard for people under the influence of drugs during licensing hours.

The premises licence holders volunteered for the testing and it is operations such as these, where the community works together with the police, that the most effective work is undertaken.

Hart Rural Safer Neighbourhoods Sergeant, Paul Maginnis, said: “The operation organised by PC Stacy Beale in conjunction with our licensing department was the culmination of a month of activities in line with a Home Office crackdown on underage drinking and associated anti-social behaviour. Hook, like other villages in Hart, is lucky that it suffers low levels of crime, so these incidents of anti-social behaviour have a real impact on the lives of our community. 

“The amount of alcohol we seized really showed me we have a deep rooted problem with underage drinking and we will be working with our partner agencies to continue to tackle this problem. 

“I would ask that parents are vigilant to what their own children are doing and make them aware of the dangers of consuming alcohol, and that alcohol could be a contributory factor in later anti-social behaviour, sexual assault or illness.

“Parents can also play a part by protecting and ensuring their children do not have open access to stored alcohol at home, I am glad to report that the continued work by the local police team has seen a continued decrease in the amounts of calls about anti-social behaviour.

“The team are also keen to hear from the community if they have any concerns about their teenage children or if they have any concerns about anti-social behaviour in the village.”

www.hampshire.police.uk