Three liquor outlets to close following operation

Date: August 18, 2011

Three liquor outlets to close following controlled purchase operations

The Liquor Licensing Authority has ordered the suspension of three Hastings liquor licenses, following recent purchase operations, which saw liquor being sold to minors.

Hastings District Council staff combined with Police and District Health Board staff to carry out the operations which are aimed at reducing liquor abuse.

The Angus Hotel bottle store has been ordered to close for ten days commencing Friday September 2nd 2011.The Authority was impressed with the various steps taken since the latest incident to avoid a repetition of the failure, however it noted that there had been previous sales to minors at the premises and on the most recent occasion, the premises had been operating without a duty manager.

The Mahora Four Square's liquor license has been suspended for seven days commencing September 5th 2011.The order means that the store can still open for business, but will not be able to sell liquor during that week. The Authority took into account the licence holder's unblemished record over the past two years.

Liquid Central has been ordered to close for one day commencing at 10am on Saturday August 20th, 2011. Breaches included the sale of liquor to a minor and the presence of intoxicated patrons in the bar on two occasions. For the past two weeks the inner-city bar has operated under new owners, who were not responsible for the infringements, however they will still close the bar for the twenty four hours. The duty manager's certificate was suspended for six weeks.

Hastings District Council Community Safety Manager Philip Evans said that the different penalties imposed reflected the different type of licensed premises, from bar to bottle store to grocery store, and the number of times they have previously failed.

"The suspension of their licenses will impose a significant penalty on these businesses and should serve as a lesson that if breaches are detected in future, even higher penalties may be sought" Mr Evans says.

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