Blitz curbed binge-drinking summer

Children's minister Dawn Primarolo announced more than 5,000 litres of drink was taken away from youngsters between July and September.

The £1.4 million campaign also saw more than 3,000 actions taken against children consuming alcohol - or attempting to - in public, more than 1,800 parents informed and more than 18,000 young people directed to more "positive" activities by street teams.

In June, Children's Secretary Ed Balls announced that 69 youth crime priority areas would be given a share of extra cash to help them clamp down specifically on teenage binge-drinking in the summer months.

The funding allowed the towns and cities to confiscate alcohol, break up groups of young people who are getting drunk and get them to sign contracts promising to behave.

Each area was also required to work with families to address the underlying reasons for children's behaviour.

Ms Primarolo said the results of the summer campaign revealed that 5,171 litres of alcohol (equivalent of around 6,600 bottles of lager) was confiscated; 3,721 actions were taken for drinking in public, including 500 dispersal orders; almost 2,000 young people were referred to support services, including 324 for alcohol treatment; 1,829 parents were informed about their children's behaviour; 18,660 youngsters were directed to other activities in their areas; and 2,467 test purchase operations were carried out, of which 349 licensed premises failed.

A further 515 police operations were carried out in the 69 areas, resulting in 2,074 youngsters who were drunk and causing trouble being referred to support services, the Department for Children, Schools and Families said.

Ms Primarolo said: "Although the majority of young people are law-abiding and don't cause any problems in their communities, in some areas of the country some young people's drinking is getting out of control.

"This can lead to more serious low level crime and the disruption and intimidation of communities. This behaviour is unacceptable which is why it is vital that local services get tough on teenage drinking by confiscating alcohol, and use enforcement powers to show young people that their anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated."