Sheffield Tesco temporarily banned from selling alcohol

A Sheffield city centre supermarket was banned from selling alcohol this weekend after failing police tests.
Tesco Metro in West Street, SheffieldTesco Metro in West Street, Sheffield
Tesco Metro in West Street, Sheffield

Customers shopping at Tesco Metro in West Street between Friday and bank holiday Monday were surprised to find shelves had been cleared of wines, beers and spirits.

A Tesco spokesman said the shop was temporarily ordered to stop selling alcohol after failing police age tests.

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“We take our responsibilities as a retailer very seriously and are part of the Challenge25 scheme,” the spokesman said.

“We were disappointed that our West Street Metro had fallen behind the high standards we set ourselves and that are expected of us.

“We have fully complied with the ruling and have worked closely with the police to re-train colleagues at the store.”

The shop started selling alcohol again today (Tuesday, August 30) after the temporary ban expired.

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West Street residents and business owners told The Star in June that street drinking was a serious problem in the area.

Chairman of Sheffield City Centre Residents’ Action Group Peter Sephton said the Tesco ban was ‘encouraging’.

“The police have been high profile recently and their support is appreciated, as there are a lot of inebriated drugaholics wandering around the city centre in a dazed state and our group is encouraging action by all the relevant agencies to help these people get control of their lives,” he said.

“It shows that someone is keeping an eye on businesses that break the rules and bringing them into line with the regulations.”

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Mr Sephton said a useful next step would be to stop the sale of high strength beer and cider alcohol in the ‘infamous’ black cans that are often left empty in the street.

He added: “Things are starting to happen and our group will keep pressing for all agencies to develop a coordinated strategy to deal with what is quite a serious problem of alcohol and drug abuse and some mental health problems.”

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