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Brighton flooded with fake booze


Potentially dangerous “fake” spirits are flooding city shops.

Hundreds of bottles of drink with fake duty stamps or incomplete labels have been seized from at least 30 off-licences in Brighton and Hove over the last year.

Trading standards officers say where rules are broken there is often no way to tell if the spirits will be harmful to the public.

They are contacting independent shops and bars to warn them they could be on the wrong side of the law if they sell the products.

While some of the bottles with fake duty stamps are genuine, others have been reported to leave a limescale-like film on the glass.

In the past, vodkas have been found in Brighton and Hove containing methanol, which can cause blindness and is the basis of anti-freeze and some fuels.

Cat MacBeth, fair trading officer at Brighton and Hove City Council’s trading standards department, said: “So far we have been lucky, there have not been any health issues.

“We are going to be sending out letters to independent off-licences and independent bars.”

Suspect bottles, including Italian-made vodkas Drops and Drago, have been found in dozens of shops in the city.

Officers have already applied for a review of one Hove shop’s licence, where 100 bottles were found. Another shop had 245 bottles in stock when officers arrived.

Comments(10)

yorkie44 says...
5:19pm Mon 15 Mar 10

No health issues so far with fake booze. We should have more of this because there are loads of health issues with the real thing!

shrek's uglier brother says...
5:29pm Mon 15 Mar 10

What is this word "issues"? Maybe I'm a bit slow, but does it really mean anything at all, or is it just one of those words that gets tossed into conversations to make the speaker (in the speaker's mind, no doubt) sound erudite? If people mean "problems" why not say so?

neil466 says...
6:59pm Mon 15 Mar 10

if the govenment did not put 90% tax on ciggies & booze there would not be a market.

bug eye says...
8:27pm Mon 15 Mar 10

surely if an off licence or shop are selling any amount of these bottles there licence must be revoked immediately, as there must be some health risk, and I would want to know. it is clear there are far too many shops selling alcohol now as if it is sweets. these shops are ruining the look of some of our high streets and stopping other shops setting up because of the business they attract. lewes road and western road in particular.

Rastus Watermelon says...
10:36pm Mon 15 Mar 10

bug eye wrote:
surely if an off licence or shop are selling any amount of these bottles there licence must be revoked immediately, as there must be some health risk, and I would want to know. it is clear there are far too many shops selling alcohol now as if it is sweets. these shops are ruining the look of some of our high streets and stopping other shops setting up because of the business they attract. lewes road and western road in particular.
Out of interest, how do you know that the booze is getting into the supply chain here? They may have previously reputable suppliers who have been duped.
And then you spout utter nonsense. Where is the relationship between shops selling booze preventing other shops setting up? You dumbfound me with your stupidity.
Supply and demand. People demand alcohol, shops sell it. How will you decide who can sell alcohol and who can't?
And even if all these shops cleared out, what do you think will take their place?
Get out of your fantasy.

jaygee says...
7:24am Tue 16 Mar 10

brighton is flooded with nearly everything fake so booze is a natural follow on,what a two bob town it is.im so glad that i live somewhere classy.

Spanners says...
9:34am Tue 16 Mar 10

jaygee wrote:
brighton is flooded with nearly everything fake so booze is a natural follow on,what a two bob town it is.im so glad that i live somewhere classy.
oh, this made me laugh ! Arundel -home of the late night alcohol delivery service named Alcohol First. Delivering cheap booze to p1ssed up locals between 9pm and 5am. Sheer class without doubt !

mark by the sea says...
9:43am Tue 16 Mar 10

Spanners wrote:
jaygee wrote: brighton is flooded with nearly everything fake so booze is a natural follow on,what a two bob town it is.im so glad that i live somewhere classy.
oh, this made me laugh ! Arundel -home of the late night alcohol delivery service named Alcohol First. Delivering cheap booze to p1ssed up locals between 9pm and 5am. Sheer class without doubt !
Alcohol first are the only place you can still get a bottle of Blue Nun.. their 09 is a full fruity flavor! gets you lashed in half the time!

davyboy says...
5:32pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Rastus Watermelon wrote:
bug eye wrote:
surely if an off licence or shop are selling any amount of these bottles there licence must be revoked immediately, as there must be some health risk, and I would want to know. it is clear there are far too many shops selling alcohol now as if it is sweets. these shops are ruining the look of some of our high streets and stopping other shops setting up because of the business they attract. lewes road and western road in particular.
Out of interest, how do you know that the booze is getting into the supply chain here? They may have previously reputable suppliers who have been duped.
And then you spout utter nonsense. Where is the relationship between shops selling booze preventing other shops setting up? You dumbfound me with your stupidity.
Supply and demand. People demand alcohol, shops sell it. How will you decide who can sell alcohol and who can't?
And even if all these shops cleared out, what do you think will take their place?
Get out of your fantasy.
if it is not getting into the supply chain in the shop, but at the wholesaler, then other towns would have the same problem. i firmly believe that these off licences are offered cheap booze, and always out for a quick buck, grab this opportunity to boost profits. after all, they keep getting caught selling to underage kids!

Rastus Watermelon says...
11:52am Wed 17 Mar 10

So in that case, you think there's something special about Brighton's shop keepers that makes them sell fake booze?
I'm sure this is happening all over the country!


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