Breathalyser test to buy more beer!

POLICE are arming shopkeepers with breathalysers in a crackdown on street drinking.

They use the devices to test whether or not customers who want to buy alcohol have been drinking.

The trial in Cardiff, thought to be the first in Britain, comes after a rise in complaints about drunken behaviour.

The devices are different from those used by traffic police and work by giving a low, medium or high reading.

A high reading is given if a user has at least 10 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millitres of breath – the drink-drive limit is 35 microgrammes in England and Wales, and 22 mcg in Scotland.

Shopkeepers are expected to refuse a sale if a customer has a ‘high’ reading, and use their discretion for ‘medium’.

Local councillors criticised the policy for putting pressure on shopkeepers by forcing them to do the work of police.

But one of the two shops involved in the trial said it was a success. Shop manager Rohat Hamed, 40, said: ‘We’ve used it hundreds of times. We just grab it and if anybody who tries to buy alcohol looks drunk, we tell them to blow into it.’

The Licensing Act 2003 makes it illegal to sell alcohol in England and Wales to someone who is drunk, or to try to buy it on their behalf.

Cardiff Tory councillor Jayne Cowan said: ‘Shopkeepers are there to provide a service, not do police officers’ jobs.’