An off-licence chain has been given a renewed drinks licence despite supplying an under-age teenager who later died in a road accident.

John Knowles objected to the renewal of the licence for the Drinks Cabin in Pudsey Market Place after his 14-year-old son David was sold alcohol.

The former Priestthorpe School pupil is thought to have drunk four cans of lager before he was hit by a car as he ran across the Stanningley by-pass on March 21 last year.

The Crown Prosecution Service dropped legal action against the staff members who sold David the alcohol because the Licensing Act 1964 says only the licence holder and staff he employs can be prosecuted for under-age sales.

The staff in the Pudsey branch were immune because they were not employed by the manager - the licensee - but by national chain Thresher, which owned the Drinks Cabin outlets.

Company solicitor Mark Owen said it was agreed the laws were "outmoded and outdated" and he added: "The law needs to be changed, not this licence.''

The committee decided the new licence should have more than one name on it so that there would always be someone in the shop who could be prosecuted if they broke the law.

Talking about the CPS decision to discontinue action against the three staff, Mr Knowles, of Thornhill Close, Calverley, said: "The solicitors acting for Thresher used the fact that the staff couldn't be prosecuted because they were not the servants of the licensee but were servants of Thresher.

"The law can and will be manipulated by callous organisations and slick lawyers to avoid their responsibilities.

"I don't think it's right and proper that a licence should be granted where a licensee doesn't have control of his staff, thus making them immune to prosecution.

"The young are precious and they are our tomorrow- we have a duty to protect them."

After the hearing he vowed to carry on pressing for a change in the law with the help of Pudsey MP Paul Truswell, who has tabled an Early Day Motion calling for the closure of the loophole and has presented Parliament with a 1,200 signature petition supporting the move.

Mr Truswell said he would table another Early Day motion and a Parliamentary Question as well as arranging a second meeting with Home Office Minister George Haworth, responsible for licensing.

In a statement, Thresher said every effort was made to ensure staff did not sell alcohol to under-age customers. It said: "While Drinks Cabin acknowledges that certain aspects of the law are in need of reform, its staff will continue to act with diligence."

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