Sober drivers only as golf club fails sting

A golf club and a restaurant have taken bans on selling alcohol on the chin, after they were both caught out in stings involving minors.

Angkor Restaurant and the Manawatu Golf Club’s eatery Hokowhitu Cafe and Bar were both snapped in Palmerston North controlled purchase operations in December. As a result, they have both been banned from selling alcohol for three days in April.

The golf club was caught in a large pre-christmas sting, where police checked 22 premises. The golf club and one other establishment failed. Angkor Restaurant was also snapped in December, during a different operation.

According to New Zealand Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority decisions, both operations did not dispute police applications to suspend their licences to sell alcohol.

They were also given ‘‘negative holdings’’ by the authority. Three negative holdings in a three-year period results in the authority having to consider if the licence should be cancelled.

Angkor Restaurant will not be able to sell alcohol on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, according to the decision.

Manawatu Golf Club general manager Waren Collett said the club had already served its suspension in late-march, although the authority’s decision said it would be suspended from Tuesday until Friday morning.

Collett described the incident as ‘‘just a sting, a pre-christmas sting’’ and they were looking to move on.

A police spokeswoman said 42 premises were visited on December 1 and 10, with three failing. All three premises – police did not provide the name of the third – had their licences suspended for three days each.

The golf club sting follows a recent trend where clubs have been targeted.