Selby responsible drinking campaign hailed a success

An innovative project to tackle the negative impact of excessive alcohol consumption has received positive feedback from Selby residents.

North Yorkshire Police officers and PCSOs joined staff from North Yorkshire Horizons at the high-profile launch of the Alternate campaign on Friday night.

The campaign promotes the aims of the North Yorkshire Alcohol Strategy, by asking people to think carefully about the negative effects of their drinking.

Five films were played on a large video van at the Market Cross between 6pm and 9pm, and posters and credit-card sized 'app cards' featuring links to web content were distributed at licensed premises across the town.

The films will now be shown on North Yorkshire Police's social media accounts and on a new website www.alternatedrinking.org, and posters will be sent to councils, employers, doctor's surgeries and partner agencies over the coming weeks.

The campaign follows a research project in Selby earlier this year, which studied changes in drinking patterns and behaviours such as 'pre-loading', where alcohol is consumed at home before going out into town.
 
Inspector Ian Mcniff, of Selby Police, said: "I'd like to thank everyone who attended the launch of the Alternate project on Friday night, and we received very positive feedback from the people we spoke to.

"We've created the website at www.alternatedrinking.org and the films to demonstrate our experiences of what happens when alcohol takes control. A night out with friends can be fun, and we don't want to stop that. All we can ask is that you are aware of how much you drink and how it will affect you."