Challenge to Marston's on underage drinkers
Marston's has been warned by police after nearly a fifth of pubs caught selling alcohol to underage drinkers were operated by the company.
Out of 45 pubs caught out by police stings in Staffordshire this year, eight were linked to the firm.
Police have expressed concerns over the figure, and bosses at the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire-based brewery are said to be taking the findings 'very seriously'.
Overall, 107 pubs were targeted between January and September this year, with nearly half failing to ask underage teenagers for any identification.
Marston's pubs represented just under 20 per cent of the total failures.
Insp Jared White, who leads the licensing team at Staffordshire Police, said he was disappointed with the failure rate and said he wanted to see pubs embrace Challenge 25 which means bar staff should ask customers for identification if they believe they are 25 or younger. He said: "I am not scathing of Marston's but the failure rate is significant enough for us to be concerned."
A Cannock Chase Council licensing sub-committee hearing was told that Marston's was opposed to Challenge 25, preferring to challenge customers up to the age of 21.
In a statement, Marston's said: "We have a zero tolerance policy to underage drinking and have robust systems in place throughout our estate that seek to avoid this.
"The campaign by Staffordshire Police has re-sulted in a small number of failed test purchases which we are taking very seriously."
