Platform Magazine failed to purchase any alcohol from any shops following a Government-enforced 9 pm ban on its sale in Nottinghamshire.
The rule, which is an outright ban on shops selling alcohol, came into force on Friday morning as part of Tier 3 restrictions – it is in addition to the existing pub and restaurant curfew at 10 pm.
It has come under scrutiny in recent days with Nottinghamshire the only region under tier 3 restrictions to have been dealt the ban.
Explaining the ban in a public health briefing on Friday, October 30, Nottingham City Council’s Director of Public Health, Alison Challenger, said: “What we’ve seen over recent weeks is, with the closure of pubs and bars at 10 pm, that has led to a significant number of people leaving those pubs and bars at the same time.
“That has led to crowds, it’s led to queues, and we have seen people queue outside a lot of the off-licenses and retail premises to purchase alcohol.
“So this is something that we have seen happen quite a lot. Some of the reasons for this will be to go onto house parties to continue because there is a 10pm closure.
“So the idea behind bringing the time forward by an hour is to stagger the crowds and prevent that build up and if possible prevent that spontaneous purchase of alcohol that then goes on potentially to a house party.”
Reporters from Platform Magazine visited ten different premises attempting to purchase alcohol after the 9 pm cut-off but failed to buy anything.
At the Asda in Hyson Green (pictured), metal railings were set-up to restrict access to aisles which featured alcohol products.
Other shops, such as Sainsbury’s in Lace Market and the Tesco Express on Shakespeare Street, had shutters locked down to deny shoppers access to alcohol.
One reporter witnessed a queue leading up to the Tesco Express before 9 pm – while several students were seen running down the road in an attempt to join the line of punters hoping to make a purchase before the deadline.
When Platform’s reporter tried to purchase an uncovered bottle of wine just before 10 pm, the cashier informed them of the Tier 3 restriction and explained they were unable to authorise the sale.
Several off-licences stores in the city centre and Radford were also visited, but no purchases were successful.
The 10 pm curfew on pubs and restaurants has led to Nottinghamshire Police handing out several fines for people hosting house parties.
In September, a University of Nottingham student was fined £10,000 for hosting a party in Lenton.
Meanwhile, earlier this month four Nottingham Trent University students were suspended from their studies – and fined £10,000 each – after lying to police officers about a party.
As a result, Ms Challenger explained the idea of a ban on alcohol sale was first proposed by Nottinghamshire Police.
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She said: “The 9 pm ban on alcohol was something that the police wanted to see.
“In the springtime we had a lot of parties to the late or small hours of the morning, people getting together in public parks and drinking.
“What we feared might happen, what the police feared might happen, is that people would go to the pub, they’d have a meal and some drinks, they would come out and go straight to the shops and off licence to buy a bottle and go to continue partying elsewhere.
“We’re trying to stop that. That is something that has been blighting a bit of Nottinghamshire, particularly the younger elements because of course younger people don’t think they’re ever going to catch anything.
“That’s where it came from, and we have supported [the police] on that.
“There are those amongst them that said 10 pm was a good time, but we thought 9 pm was a better time because you could just nip out before 10 pm to go to the off licence or supermarket.”
By Matt Lee
Images: Olimpia Zagnat, inset image: Pixabay.