The name of a gambling arcade where young customers were allowed to play games before being challenged for age verification will not be released by Wokingham Borough Council (WBC).
Council licensing officers carried out ‘test purchases’ in gambling venues in December last year.
One unnamed ‘adult gaming centre’ allowed a young person to use machines in an over-18s only area for 10 minutes before being asked for ID.
The reason for not naming the centre is that its owners have not been prosecuted, and its license is not under review. The council wants the venue to improve – and will carry out another test in the next six months.
A WBC spokesperson said: “We would not name a premises licence holder unless a court prosecution is completed, or their licence is reviewed.
“As it stands, there is just one alleged breach around age verification, which in isolation would not justify a full review of the licence or prosecution at this point in time.”
The sting operation involved sending a young person into gambling venues to see how long it took for staff to ask them for ID. Licensing officer say no young person should be allowed to enter an under 18s area without being challenged ‘in a short space of time’.
The spokesperson said: “The gaming centre, which failed the test purchase, has an area for over-18’s only. The young person was able to enter the area and use the gaming machine for around 10 minutes before being challenged.
“The expectation is that no young person is permitted to enter this area to use the gaming machines. Should a young person enter, we would expect a challenge to age verification in a short space of time.”
WBC now says its licensing officers are working with the venue’s management to fix any issues and address staff training.
It added that if the venue fails a test again, the council will consider reviewing its license, with the final decision made by a sub-committee of councillors. However, the council says its focus is on getting the venue to improve.
The spokesperson said: “The licence holder will need to carry out their own risk assessment around age verification – this will often include tighter measures around signage and staff training to build resilience.
“We adopt a pragmatic and sensible approach to enforcement. In this case we have carried out a test purchase and we are not satisfied with the result. We have raised this with the licence holder, for them to consider their business practices.”
They added: “The aim is for the licence holder to take responsibility for their licence authorisation, to take steps to ensure that age verification procedures are correctly followed.”
