Warning for licensees using illegal plastic glasses at outdoor events

Licensees who run occasional bars at outside events could find themselves being prosecuted for using non-stamped plastic glasses.

The threat has come to light in the West Country after officers from Devon County Council's trading standards department raided an outside bar run by licensee Ted Alford.

Mr Alford was reprimanded by the officers, who accused him of breaking the law by selling beer and cider in non-government-stamped lined glasses.

The officers have taken the matter so seriously they are to raise the issue at their next regional meeting of Weights and Measures Inspectors to ensure uniformity of enforcement.

They have also warned of a clamp down to ensure licensees abide by the law and use only the proper glassware.

A spokesman explained: "Whenever beer or cider is sold loose it must be measured through stamped equipment, either a glass or liquid dispensing measuring devices. Unstamped plastic glasses, as used by Mr Alford at the show, are illegal."

But Mr Alford, who runs the Britannia Inn at Alcombe and is immediate past chairman of West Somerset Licensed Victuallers Association, argues that 90 per cent of licensees who run bars at outside events use the non-stamped glasses.

He said: "It is impossible for licensees to collect and retain glasses at major shows, which is why most use the non-stamped type."