Drinking and fights must stop
When I read the headline "Boozing ban call by town" on the front of the Shropshire Star, I thought it referred to a large town. But the headline on the front page did, in fact, refer to the small sleepy (once) market town of Shifnal.
The local carnival gets the blame for the alcohol-fuelled violence that has marred the last two events.
Yobs from rival gangs have started fighting in the evenings on the fairground after the carnival and extra police have had to be drafted in to deal with the problem.
Some of these yobs have probably never even seen the carnival, but have spent the afternoon in some of the pubs down the main street, getting tanked up for the fighting later that day.
It was reported that some of the yobs were under-age drinkers who had been served at one or two pubs along the route, and if this could be proven strong action should be taken against the pub or pubs concerned.
The local council has raised from its sleep and called for a ban on alcohol being drunk on the streets, and said certain pubs should close during the afternoon so that teenagers cannot gain access to the bars.
I doubt if a ban would be approved by the pub landlords, who make a large profit on carnival day.
But the problem is not confined to Shifnal on carnival day and the problem of alcohol-fuelled violence is much worse in many large towns. We must get the message across that it is not clever to get drunk and go on the rampage.
Ray Williams, Shifnal
