MPs call for ban on happy hours

Anna Davis @_annadavis13 April 2012

A PUB with a £10 "all you can drink" night was today attacked by health campaigners for encouraging binge drinking, as MPs called for a total ban on happy hours.

About 150 people flocked to the Redback Tavern in Acton last night to take advantage of its two-hour cheap alcohol offer.

But the Australian-themed pub faced heavy criticism as MPs attacked the move and called for a ban on cut-price alcohol.

The home affairs select committee urged ministers to clamp down on irresponsible bars and pubs. They found the "whole focus" of police resources was in targeting drink-fuelled and football violence, meaning officers were "hitting their targets but missing the point".

Chairman Keith Vaz said: "We cannot have on one hand a world of alcohol promotions for profit that fuels surges of crime and disorder, and on the other the police diverting all their resources to cope with it." He also called for previously voluntary codes of conduct for the drinks industry to be legally enforceable.

The Redback's offer highlighted concerns over the ease with which cheap alcohol is being sold. Lib-Dem culture spokesman Don Foster said: "This offer is ludicrously irresponsible. Binge drinking costs the nation £25 billion in hospital admissions, days off work, premature death and metal health problems."

Customers who took part in the Acton event paid £10 for a half pint cup, which they could then fill with a choice of beer, cider, spirits and mixers between 5pm and 7pm. Manager Andy Laloli, who came up with the promotional idea, insisted the pub was not encouraging binge drinking.

He said: "Times are tough and everyone wants to stretch the pound as far as they can. People can go and buy a pack of beer for £5 in the supermarket, and the shop's responsibility ends there. But we can offer a promotion that we are responsible for."

To save money using the offer, customers would have to drink at least four spirits in two hours. The night, which has been running every Sunday for four weeks, is not advertised and customers hear about it through word of mouth.

Jacinda O'Sullivan, 29, celebrating her birthday at the event, said: "On a Sunday everyone knows they have to get up in the morning so they are not going mad."

A medical student, 27, from Acton, who did not want to be named, said: "£10 to drink as much as you want is a bargain - you can get wasted in a couple of hours."

DJ Nic Wilmans, 35, said: "This pub is brilliant - everyone knows your name and the staff are all friendly, that is why it is so popular. When the credit crunch comes people want to forget about it. People who have a long weekend can come here and get trashed and feel at home."

Michelle Collins, 27, a personal trainer from Acton, said: "I don't think the pub encourages binge drinking - most of us are travelling from Australia and South Africa and New Zealand, and we don't have a lot of money. So we have to make the most of things like this."

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