SHOPS and off-licences in Clacton town centre could be banned from selling alcohol if they continue to serve drunks.

Tendring Council and the police launched a clampdown after the rising problem was highlighted in last week’s Gazette.

Desperate traders called for a crackdown on the “disgusting” behaviour of drunks and street-drinkers in the town.

Charlie Nehmet, who owns Charlie’s Diner, in Jackson Road, said the groups were often abusive and intimidating after drinking cheap booze all day.

Now Tendring Council said it had taken “urgent action” to warn town centre shops about selling alcohol to drunks.

The council, along with Essex Police, said it moved quickly to visit a number of premises last week following “disturbing headlines”.

Council licensing enforcement officers visited off-licences the same day to remind them of their commitment to the town’s Reducing the Strength campaign, which many shops voluntarily signed up to earlier this year.

One town centre trader was fined for selling alcohol to a drunk, and the council warned licences would be taken away if it continued.

Council licensing boss Mark Platt said the Gazette’s headline had summed up the poor behaviour of “a small minority of people”.

He said: “Ultimately, if some of these shops do not take the right message on board and sell responsibly, they will be putting their alcohol licences and their livelihoods at risk. The council can grant licences but, ultimately, it can also review them and take them away as well if it comes to that.”

For the full story, see today's Clacton Gazette