VALE of Clwyd pubs which sold booze to 15 and 16 year-old girls are being forced to close over the busy Easter weekend or face criminal conviction.
Eleven pubs will not be allowed to open for 48 hours after being caught out in an undercover sales sting, dubbed Operation Punnet by North Wales Police and Denbighshire County Council.
Female test purchasers, accompanied by undercover police officers, visited a raft of pubs on three separate occasions in January and February.
The 11 guilty pubs were revisited last Thursday and handed closure notices by licensing officer Sergeant Paul Williams.
Each pub will have to shut from 7pm on Easter Saturday (April 3) until 7pm on Easter Monday (April 5) - or choose to fight their case in court.
The operation was set up to try and reduce alcohol related crime as figures for the 12 month period preceding November 2009 showed 591 crimes across Denbighshire and Conwy involved persons under 18 years of age as either victims or offenders where alcohol was a factor.
Roly Scharwz community safety enforcement officer for Denbighshire said: "All the pubs will now get notices of review hearings and will have 14 days to decide whether to either tell Denbighshire County Council in writing that they will accept the closure penalty or opt for prosecution, and a maximum £20,000 fine per offence.
"This closure is only the first phase, we will ask the licensing committee to review their licenses,” he added.
Christine Carruthers, from the Plough, Denbigh said: "All I can say is that I'm so sorry that this has happened.
"We are all usually so vigilant, it was a slip, which will never happen again."
Russ Williams, who supplies security to pubs and clubs in Ruthin and Denbigh said: “While I agree with clamping down on under age drinkers, I have seen a video of the girls and really don't think it was fair as one clearly looked over-age.
“I feel sorry for the pubs that have to close over the bank holiday weekend as this is usually one of the busiest times of the year.
“With so many pubs going out of business and January and February being so quiet I wonder how many will continue to survive,” he added.
Denbigh county councillor Colin Hughes said he is not happy about the closures.
"I can't condone underage drinking at all but the punishment is very harsh, these people don't do fantastically,” he said.
“I am worried the loss of earnings could lead to more pub closures.”