A roadside hoarding advertising a popular lager has come under fire from a Ludlow doctor and town councillors trying to curb anti-social drinking.
Dr Caron Morton, a GP at the Station Drive Practice, said: “It very frustrating when we are trying to educate and warn people about the health risks of the over consumption of alcohol to have a large billboard advertising lager not 300 metres away. Its seems odd when so many people in the community are working to reduce antisocial drinking that this practice still goes on”
Lib Dem councillor for St Peters, Tracey Huffer added: “A great many people have been working quite hard on tackling alcohol related problems in the town over the last few months. My colleague county councillor Vivienne Parry and I, for instance, have been on a joint working group with South Shropshire District Council, the police and others to limit drinking in public,” she said.
“I also know that the county’s Trading Standards Department is working with shops to stop drink sales to those under the legal age.
“It is therefore more than a little annoying to find beer being so blatantly advertised in the town centre.
“This kind of glamorisation has an impact, especially on the young, and works against what we are trying to achieve.”
Councillor Vivienne Parry added: “I know that as the law stands we cannot prevent this type of advertising.
“But we are going to press the district council to contact the owners of the hoardings to explain our current problems and efforts to solve them,” she said.
“Hopefully they may choose to advertise a less harmful product in the future.”
A partnership project involving Ludlow Junior and Church Stretton’s St Laurence’s Primary schools is launching a new publication Let’s Talk Drink at Ludlow Junior on Wednesday July 9.
The event takes place from 6pm to 8pm.
