The Selly Oak Neighbourhood Team is working in partnership with the University of Birmingham Community Wardens and local participating licensed premises to push a new initiative to curb binge drinking.

The excess consumption of alcohol has been directly linked to anti-social behaviour, public place violence and increased hospital visits. It can also increase a person’s vulnerability and can put them at risk of becoming a victim of crime themselves.

Starting this weekend (17 October 2014), drinkers will be randomly breathalysed at the door of up to eight of their favourite watering holes as a “condition of entry.”

Selly Oak Officers have trained and equipped door staff with breathalysers to test whether patrons are sober enough to be let in. Each participating premise is responsible for setting its own limit of alcohol as a “condition of entry.”

A PubWatch Representative, said, “We welcome trialling this initiative. We are always looking for ways to keep our student community safe from harm and we have seen at first hand the results that too much alcohol can have.”

Local premise landlords will start displaying signs with the slogan “Are you trollied?” to advise party-goers that they are taking part in the scheme and may be breathalysed upon entry.

Selly Oak Police Officers, Community Wardens and Venue staff will promote the initiative and educate students on responsible drinking with Twitter using #deepbreath.

Participating licensed premises have been asked by Police to record breathalyser readings in hopes of evaluating and analysing effectiveness of this initiative. Most recently this tactical initiative was successfully used by Norfolk Constabulary in December 2013, who saw a 66% reduction in alcohol related arrests and a 32% reduction in all violent crime.

Sergeant Simon Williams from the Selly Oak Neighbourhood Police Team said: “With a new culture of pre-drinking, students are unaware of how intoxicated they are when they set out for a night of partying.”

“We aim to keep everyone safe, while still allowing responsible revellers to enjoy themselves. By effectively being “cut off” at the door, staff can open the eyes of drinkers and hopefully deter further overconsumption. As their evening out comes to a close we want people to get home safely instead of ending their night in a police station or hospital bed, so alcohol awareness is the key to that happening.”

Follow the @SellyOakPolice on Twitter for regular updates on #DeepBreath