Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Ross Finnie MSP has called for action to tackle underage drinking. Mr Finnie has urged Ministers to work with retailers and supermarkets to discover why rules preventing shops from selling to minors are being ignored and to stop the discounting of alcohol.

Information obtained by the BBC shows that more than a third of Scottish councils have yet to suspend a licence in the last five years for sales of alcohol to underage drinkers.

Commenting, Mr Finnie said:

“Alcohol abuse is taking a terrible toll on the health of the nation. If we are to make the long term culture change necessary to stamp out alcohol abuse, it is imperative that we tackle underage drinking and the availability of cheap drink.

“The Scottish Government needs to find out why local authorities are failing to suspend licences for those shops that flout the rules. Ministers also need to discover how they can work with and support retailers to prevent minors accessing alcohol.

“At the same time, the Government needs to summon the supermarkets to agree a strategy to curb the availability of cheap drink. It’s not good enough for the supermarkets to cite competition as an excuse for lowering the price of drink.”