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Club sells drinks for 10p at Halloween bash
A club in Wales has come under fire for selling drinks at a Halloween party for as little as 10p (US 16 cents), after it was denied permission to sell them for 1p (US 2 cents).
Mama’s Paradise in Pontardawe, north Swansea, hosted a Halloween special recently which saw revellers neck cans of Strongbow, Carlsberg and Fosters for as little as 10p, as reported by the South Wales Evening Post.
The offer only was available during the club’s “happy hour”, which uncharacteristically ran for three hours between 10 and 1am.
Amazingly, the club had intended to sell its booze for just 1p, but was stopped by licensing chiefs and instead was allowed to charge 10p a drink having sold club entry tickets for £12 ($19).
The loophole seems totally at odds with the government’s efforts to ban below cost selling of alcohol in off-trade outlets, and its plans to impose a minimum pricing on units of alcohol to 44p.
According to reports by the South Wales Evening Post, the club lost its licence several years ago for promoting an offer for 1p drinks, which eventually got reinstated.
In an attempt to prevent revellers from taking advantage of the offer, the club employs a “two drinks” at a time policy with guests asked to return their empties to the bar before getting in another round.
Speaking to Wales Online, the co-owner of the club, Alistair Parker, defended the “all inclusive” drinks policy.
He said: “We’re properly licensed and have staff at the club who watch if customers are drunk then advise them they have had enough, it’s a controlled environment. It’s similar to all inclusive holidays where drinks are actually free… you don’t see people calling for them to be banned.
“The real problem we have is that someone who has reached 18 can go to a superstore, buy several bottles of vodka and down them all if they want to. At least in a club situation like ours there are staff looking after people. I was on holiday at the weekend but was told by my staff there were no problems on the Halloween night.”