Binge Britain: Fewer licences have been revoked despite Labour's 'tough' pledge on 24-hour drinking

This is despite a study showing four out of ten premises sell alcohol to under-18s and while drink-related crime remains high.

Critics said the failure to act made a mockery of Labour's promise that powers introduced alongside the licensing relaxation would be tougher than under the previous regime.

Of 123,700 alcohol licences granted under the new laws, only 680 were "reviewed" by local councils following concerns raised by police or residents.

Scroll down for more

Of these, 92 premises were stripped of their licences and 91 had them temporarily suspended.

In the last year of the old system - when most pubs and shops had to stop selling alcohol at 11pm - 354 licences were revoked.

Opposition MPs said it was clear the safeguards introduced alongside-extended opening were not working.

Papers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport released alongside last week's review of the Licensing Act admit the number of licence reviews is "disproportionately low".

Tory culture spokesman Jeremy Hunt said: "The Government needs to come clean and admit their plans to give residents real power on licensing issues have failed and local people are paying the price."

The first official studies of the impact of the new laws found the number of serious violent crimes had leapt by 25 per cent between 3am and 6am - suggesting street offences had simply been pushed into the early hours.

Home Office test purchasing operations found up to 40 per cent of premises selling alcohol to children.

Both serious disorder and underage selling are grounds for a licence to be revoked or at least reviewed.

The Culture Department's report said: "During the Summer 2006 Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign alone, there were 1,500 test purchase failures.

"This showed that, while the majority of premises were trading responsibly, there are a considerable minority that are not and that this might be better reflected in the number of reviews and subsequent action taken."

Councils are the body charged with granting licences. They are supposed to order review hearings after receiving complaints from the public, police, trading standards or even the Government if it has carried out a test-purchase operation.

Jan Berry, chairman of the Police Federation, called for licensing powers to be returned to magistrates - who held them prior to the introduction of the Licensing Act.

She said councils had "a conflict of interest" because they make vast sums of revenue from pub and club chains.

Government papers also reveal concern over controversial Temporary Event Notices, which grant permission to sell alcohol for 96 hours non-stop if an event is attended by fewer than 500 people.

Residents have no opportunity to object, putting the onus on the police to try to block any unsuitable licence.

But the department has been told the window in which police can make an objection - which lasts only 48-hours - is "not long enough".

Last week, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham admitted there should be 'wholesale' closures of pubs in areas blighted by disorder.

But officials later said they would still need to be considered on a case-by-case basis, prompting accusations of "spin".

The Culture Department claimed the review powers provided a "more responsive" system than the old regime, which allowed magistrates to review a licence only every three years.