A few weeks ago, the Morning Advertiser reported some shock figures concerning young adults who drink at home before going out.

The Morning Advertiser’s survey found all young adults drink at home (“pre-load”) before going out in the evening, with the average man drinking nearly four drinks before leaving the house.

In our view, this further underlines the importance of drinking at home in the debate about binge-drinking. It also places the responsibility for alcohol-related crime and disorder firmly with the individual.

That is why initatives to tackle the effects of pre-loading – such as the one by Hertfordshire Police I reported on in October – should be seriously looked at by the enforcement authorities as a way of dealing with this problem.

The Morning Advertiser’s survey also found 57 per cent of those aged 18-24 buy most of their alcohol from supermarkets as opposed to just 24 per cent from the on-trade. Tackling below cost sales such as 79p for four cans of lager offered by the Co-Op this week is another important way of dealing with anti-social behaviour.

What do you think? Is pre-loading a problem for the on-trade? And is the Co-Op’s offer irresponsible or not? Please leave your comments below.

If you have any queries relating to this article, please contact either Lisa Croft, Michael Parrott or Rob Westwood-Payne on 01242 285855 or email us.

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