An innovative Scottish scheme banning young people from buying booze at the weekend is set to be extended after police reported that alcohol-fuelled crime had more than halved.
An innovative Scottish scheme banning young people from buying booze at the weekend is set to be extended after police reported that alcohol-fuelled crime had more than halved.
The six-week pilot at Armadale in West Lothian stopping the sale of alcohol to under 21s between 5pm and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays has cut the number of calls to police about youths by more than 50%.
Preliminary figures released yesterday ahead of the official end of the scheme today showed that there were 108 phone calls to officers about youths in the previous two months, compared to 220 for the same period last year.
Telephoned reports of vandalism also dropped from 57 to 27, while assaults halved from 12 to six.
In the neighbouring villages of Blackridge and Westfield, similar results were found, with calls down from 54 to 24 and from 14 to zero respectively.
The scheme is the biggest of its kind in Scotland. It was aimed particularly at stopping young adults purchasing alcohol for children who are too young to buy it themselves.
The positive results come days after a report revealed that more than 100 children a week are being treated in Scottish hospitals for alcohol-related problems, including some as young as eight.
West Lothian Council yesterday hailed its project a success and pledged to hold talks with police and other organisations which have been involved in the initiative to discuss expanding it.
Council leader Peter Johnston said yesterday: "The initial results of the pilot project are most encouraging. The police have still to finalise the statistics, but the early indications reveal a significant drop in alcohol-related problems in the area.
"We now need to take some time to assess the full details. We plan to hold discussions with the police, the licensed trade and other interested parties.
"No decisions have been taken yet but we will be considering the possibility of extending the scheme."
He added: "I would like to thank licensees in the Armadale area for the way they co-operated with this partnership project."
The scheme was introduced at the end of March by the council, police and traders in an attempt to combat antisocial behaviour in the Armadale area.
All 11 off-licenses in Armadale agreed to take part in the scheme, which was widened to include Blackridge and Westfield in its second week.
It was modelled on a similar initiative run by Cleveland Police in the north of England, which eventually became a permanent system in several towns and villages in the area.
Police in West Lothian yesterday also welcomed the apparent success of the Armadale version and supported proposals to widen it further.
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "The initiative has helped and although it hasn't quite finished yet it appears to have been a success. We would like to see it extended."
The council has been quick to stress Armadale's alcohol-related problems are no worse than those of many other Scottish towns. It also acknowledged that the ban is just one way of attacking the problem.
The local authority also said it was looking into developing a range of activities to give young people something new to do, including free swimming on Friday afternoons.
