AN off licence has been temporarily banned from selling alcohol after twice being caught serving underage children.

A G Lazenby, of Newgate Street, in Bishop Auckland, has had its alcohol licence suspended for six weeks following the breaches and conditions have now been imposed to prevent any further illegal sales.

A Durham County Council licensing committee hearing in Spennymoor on Tuesday (December 2) heard how in March a 15-year-old boy was sold a bottle of vodka at the store which was then found to have been passed on to two 13-year-old girls who were picked up by police in the street intoxicated.

A fixed penalty notice was issued to the seller.

The council’s consumer protection service followed the incident up by carrying out a test purchase where a 16-year-old girl was served a bottle of wine by the same employee.

Licensing committee members decided to suspend the store’s licence for six weeks to allow measures to be put in place, such as further training to ensure that staff are properly trained to refuse sales.

The application to review the licence was made by Durham County Council on the grounds of protecting children from harm and the prevention of crime and disorder.

Joanne Waller, head of environment, health and consumer protection at Durham County Council, said: “Allowing young people access to alcohol can often have serious consequences for their safety and well-being and we are doing all we can to ensure that safeguards are in place to protect them.”