Almost two-thirds of those holding personal licenses to sell alcohol in Moray are at risk of losing these unless they adhere to new laws governing their renewal.
Those who hold personal licenses are now required by law to complete “refresher training” every five years – and if they fail to do so their license will be revoked with no opportunity for appeal and no right to reapply for a further five years.
The warning came this week from the convener of the Moray Licensing Board, Councillor Ron Shepherd, who said that of 596 license holders in Moray only 198 had applied to attend a recognised refresher course.
Councillor Shepherd said: “I would urge anyone who needs training to make arrangements as soon as possible – do not leave it to the last minute or you could risk not being able to get on a course and losing your license.
“If you do not undertake the training in time the board must revoke the personal license. There is no leeway to accept late applications and, since revocation is mandatory, there is no appeal procedure.
“If your personal license is revoked you cannot apply for another license for five years – so you will not be able to be a premises manager for all that time.”
Licence holders have until the end of November to lodge paperwork demonstrating that they have completed an approved refresher course.