Budapest district decided to partly ban alcohol

On Friday, Budapest's Erzsébetváros (District VII) decided to ban stores from selling alcoholic drinks between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., writes hirszerzo.hu.

The move follows complaints by residents about people drinking, often noisily, in the district's streets. The regulation does not apply to restaurants, pubs and taverns, which will still be permitted to sell alcohol during the night. Spot inspections will be performed in stores, and the penalties for selling a single bottle of beer will be up to Ft 50,000 (€200).

According to deputy mayor Gábor Majosa, the regulation is not as strict as that in neighboring District VI, where stores have been banned from selling alcohol "after hours" during the whole of the year. In Erzsébetváros, the restrictions only run from April to October, the months when people are more likely to take their drinking outside.

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