THE number of licensed premises selling alcohol in Fife has dropped in the last five years.

Fife’s Licensing Board’s new policy statement came into force on Monday and looked at whether there was overprovision in the Kingdom.

The board asked people over the summer whether there were too many premises selling alcohol, or too many premises of a particular type, in the Kingdom.

And it stated: “After considering all the responses from the public and local and national organisations, it concluded that there was no over-provision of licensed premises in Fife.

“The number of licensed premises has fallen since the last statement was published in 2013 and alcohol is often delivered to local people with their groceries from delivery centres outwith their local areas.”