Crawley homeless getting hooked on "lethal" booze

SHOPS must act more responsibly and stop selling "lethal" super-strength booze to the homeless.

This is the view of a leading charity worker, who has spoken out about the sale of cheap alcohol which is "designed to get you drunk as quickly as possible."

Peter Mansfield-Clark, who runs the Three Bridges homeless hostel Crawley Open House, told the News about the devastating effects of fortified lagers and ciders upon sections of the town's homeless community.

He said: "These drinks are gut-rot. They are lethal.

"The worst thing is that they are so incredibly cheap."

According to Mr Mansfield-Clark, around one in three of his homeless clients have problems related to alcohol.

He has seen large numbers of people drink themselves to an early grave by visiting local shops daily to buy lagers with an alcohol content of seven to nine per cent.

He does not want to see super-strength lagers banned – instead he wants to see prices raised sharply so homeless people cannot buy so much with so little.

Other nations such as Ireland and Australia have introduced higher taxes on super strength lager to price them out of the reach of the homeless.

Mr Mansfield-Clark added: "These drinks are designed just to get you drunk as quickly as possible.

"The sad thing is, people know exactly what it is doing to them.

It would be very nice if Laura Moffatt MP could look into this issue locally and then take it to a higher level.

"Town shops must think responsibly before selling these drinks. They must avoid selling to people who are already drunk."

THE News investigated prices of super-strength lagers and ciders at a selection of town shops.

Baileys Newsagent, on the Boulevard in the town centre, sells a four pack of 440ml Tenent's Super cans for £5.00.

Larger 500ml cans of Special Brew could be bought in a four pack at the Co-Op in Bewbush parade over the festive period.

The deal was being marketed as a "perfect Christmas offer."

The cheapest offer discovered by the News was at the Kasbah store on Horsham Road in West Green, where Ace cider could be bought in 500ml cans for just 69 pence each.

The cider contains 7.5 per cent alcohol.