Police breathalyse kids at town disco

Children attending discos are being breathalysed by police officers in a bid to curb anti-social behaviour in a Lincolnshire town.

The town of Broughton, Lincs, organises booze-free discos in an attempt to keep youngsters off the streets and out of trouble.

But at a disco held earlier this month five children, some as young as 14, were breathalysed and found to be under the influence of alcohol.

Limit

One of the youngsters had downed almost twice the drink-drive limit.

The scheme has been welcomed by the local mayor, Arthur Bunyan, who said: “I think the police have to be vigilant and if they suspect someone, then I can’t see anything wrong with it.

“If you are going to have a disco, you certainly don’t want people in there who are the worse for drink. They disrupt things and that is what we are trying to avoid.”

Refused

And PC Vince Potter said: “The whole idea of the disco was that it was an alcohol and substance-free event and anyone found under the influence would be refused entry.”

He added: “They should be blowing a clear zero. Wherever you go, there is underage drinking to some extent and what we are trying to do is divert the youths away from underage drinking and put them into a meaningful activity, where they can socialise in a substance-free environment.”

The booze-free discos have been organised by Broughton Town Disco Fund Team, and the zero tolerance approach is due to be continued at future events.

The next disco is planned for August.

Underage

Earlier this year it was revealed that an Oxfordshire youth club was planning to breathalyse children in an attempt to combat the underage binge drinking which was blighting their club.

Leaders at the Sweatbox youth club were forced to close the facility in December after persistent problems with children as young as twelve turning up drunk.

Youth worker Garry Kingett said: “We could not operate safely dealing with the amount of young people abusing alcohol. They would get drunk off their trolley and come here on a Friday night.

“If they got comatose their friends would dump them outside and clear off and we would have to call the paramedics.”