News

Young people with cans of drink could soon be stopped by local Police checking to see whether the soft drink is mixed with alcohol.

As part of its ongoing work to keep the district a safe place, the Dover District Community Safety Partnership has funded the purchase of a large quantity of testing strips, which show the presence of alcohol mixed with soft drinks.

Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) do sometimes need to stop people in public who are carrying open drinks containers.

These testing strips will enable the Community Safety Partnership to continue its work to address issues of alcohol misuse, particularly underage drinkers who consume alcohol in public but try to hide this illegal activity by mixing in soft drinks, in which cases, if alcohol is detected, the drink will be seized and disposed of and appropriate action will be taken.

Community Safety Manager, Christopher Allen said: “This project is one of a number of initiatives being introduced to combat the harm caused by alcohol.”