CO-OP has stopped selling super-strength booze.

The store will stop selling beer and cider with an alcohol volume of more than 6.5 per cent from today.

It has 50 shops in Essex and six in Colchester.

The decision follows a successful agreement in Ipswich, which Colchester Council hopes to replicate in Colchester.

Roger Grosvenor, retail executive officer for the Co-op, said: “Our work has shown how removing the problem at source can help reduce antisocial behaviour in the local areas where we trade.

“As an ethical retailer, we want to ensure all our local communities can benefit from the positive effect such action can achieve.”

Colchester Council plans to implement its Reducing the Strength campaign across the borough next year.

The idea behind the scheme is to stop alcoholics, beggars and street drinkers buying single cans of high-strength booze, cutting the level of alcoholrelated recorded crime.