The campaign to curb alcohol abuse will be given a big push in Wisbech at the end of this month.

A full day of activities is planned in the town on Wednesday, November 30, to raise awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking. It is a follow-up to this week’s Alcohol Awareness Week (November 14-20).

Campaigners will be out and about in the town centre to promote their key messages; they will also be visiting local supermarkets and the College of West Anglia.

The event is a joint initiative by the Cambridgeshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT), the Cambridgeshire Adolescent Substance Misuse Service (CASUS) and all the partners supporting the Wisbech Alcohol Project.

Councillor Mike Cornwell, Fenland District Council’s Cabinet member responsible for health and wellbeing, said: “We know that alcohol abuse has a big impact on people’s health as well as being a major factor in a lot of crime and antisocial behaviour.

“We also recognise that excessive drinking is a problem here, particularly in Wisbech, and making people more aware of the risks involved is key to tackling it.”

Official health guidelines stipulate that no one should regularly drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week. An average standard glass of wine (175ml) and a regular pint of beer each constitutes 2.3 units.

People should also spread their drinking evenly across the week and have regular alcohol-free days.

Meanwhile, Fenland District Council’s licensing committee has this week (November 14) refused a Wisbech supermarket’s application for a licence to sell alcohol.

The committee said the application by Nene Supermarket in Lynn Road fell within the town’s Cumulative Impact Zone, which meant there was automatically a presumption against granting a licence.

It also took into account strong representations by the police, trading standards, public health officials and local businesses.

It ruled that the applicant “has failed to produce evidence to demonstrate that granting the licence will not add to the impact an challenges that already exist in that locality”.