A Christmas drink is a great tradition, with families, friends and co-workers often heading to the friendly local pub for a tipple to celebrate the holiday season. From a pub’s point of view, it can be a busy time, which is great for business. Yet some establishments try to push the boundaries to take advantage, and can often try to operate beyond their licensed hours to take advantage of the increased footfall.
Also, it’s a time when the number of underage people trying to buy alcohol – either from a pub or a shop – can increase. Just as adults enjoy a festive beverage, so too do teenagers. And while many premises have robust age-checking systems and processes in place, it can again be easy for the standards to slip, or a blind eye to be turned, as part of the ‘Christmas spirit’.
Yet it’s not just a bit of harmless fun, and these issues can be very serious. Properties operating outside their licensed hours can cause disturbances and encourage anti-social behaviour, while the sale of alcohol to minors isn’t just criminal, but it’s also dangerous.
So, the local authority has a responsibility to make sure the premises it licenses are operating legally. And that can be tricky, but a professional and reliable private investigator can help.
If you work for a council, you can hire a private investigator to carry out surveillance on a pub or a shop, to see if they’re staying open too long or selling alcohol to suspected minors without carrying out the appropriate ID checks. You can then act to ensure the illegal activity is stopped, and carry out any necessary punishments.
If you want to know more about the services EJM Investigations can offer to councils and local authorities on providing surveillance, call now on 01772 334700.