Holders of personal licences across Aberdeenshire are being urged to undertake refresher training by August 31 this year – or face losing their licence to sell alcohol.

The deadline applies to all 10-year personal licences that were granted on September 1 2009.

Although the licences themselves last a decade, holders also must refresh their training after five years under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Holders must also notify the board that issued their licence by December 1 this year that the training has been undertaken, otherwise the licence will be revoked.

All licensed premises are authorised to sell alcohol by personal licence holders but if the personal licence holder loses their licence, premises can no longer serve alcohol.

There are currently 1,200 personal licence holders across Aberdeenshire, but so far only 25% of those have completed the training.

The half-day course covers all important aspects of Scottish licensing law including understanding the Licensing (Scotland) Act (2005), legal changes since the introduction of the Act and protecting children from harm and culminates in a 40 question examination in multiple choice format.

Convenor of Central Aberdeenshire Licensing Board, Cllr Cryle Shand, said: “It is very important that all licence holders undertake this refresher training before the August 31 deadline, and that they report back to the board by December 1.

“Unfortunately, if this timescale isn’t met, licences will be automatically revoked and the premises concerned will no longer be able to serve alcohol.”

Personal licence holders who were granted their ten year licences at a later date will be contacted in due course regarding refresher training.

More information on the refresher training can be found at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/licensing/RefresherTraining.asp