One in three licensed premises checked during a weekend operation in Christchurch sold alcohol to a minor.

The Christchurch City Council Alcohol Licensing Team and the Christchurch Police Alcohol Harm Prevention Unit visited 15 bars, restaurants and off-licences on Saturday, August 22.

The operation focused on compliance with laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors.

Five premises failed after staff did not take appropriate steps to request identification or confirm the young patron’s age.

Christchurch City Council Chief Licensing Inspector Gary Hay said selling alcohol to a minor was a serious offence.

He said the results showed a clear gap between the legal obligations and accepted good practice for licensed premises, and how some staff were verifying customers’ ages before selling them alcohol.

“We were surprised by the failure rate of this operation,” Hay said.

“We expected much better compliance from these types of establishments, and it is really disappointing five premises failed.”

Christchurch man Wayne Hawker, who runs the Facebook group Citizens Against Alcohol Harm, told chrislynchmedia.com the results were disappointing.

“As someone who is very proactive in trying to reduce alcohol harm in New Zealand, particularly trying to stop more unwanted off-licence liquor stores, I find this news disturbing,” Hawker said.

“It further highlights a serious issue we have here in New Zealand with alcohol and lax laws.”

Hawker said he would be watching closely to see how Police and licensing inspectors responded to the breaches.

“If it were me, I would have immediately suspended their licences for 48 hours and then brought charges against these businesses,” he said.

The Council said that due to these matters being considered for enforcement action through ARLA, they will not be disclosing the name or location of premises involved at this stage.

Although licensed premises are not legally required to verify the age of every customer who appears to be under 25, Hay said doing so should be considered good industry practice.

He said the failures were a reminder that venues needed to ensure staff were properly trained and remained vigilant about their responsibilities under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.

Council licensing inspectors and Police will now discuss the breaches with the parties involved and decide what action should be taken.

That could include applying to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority to suspend the certificates of managers on duty at the time and the licences of the premises involved.

“Our team will continue to run these operations to test compliance, ensure public safety and minimise alcohol-related harm,” Hay said.