Alcohol is too available

Alcohol is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Supermarkets, off licences, even petrol stations are selling it.

In 2009/10 there were more than 5,800 licensed premises in the North East and 169 with a licence to sell round the clock. You don’t even need to leave the comfort of your armchair to buy alcohol. Just log on or ‘dial a drink’ and get booze delivered direct to your door.

Research shows a clear link between availability and consumption, so it’s clear that we must reduce availability, if we are to reduce consumption.

Government has an important role to play in this by giving localities greater powers to object to licence applications.

Further reading