Underage drinking crackdown hailed

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Officers also confiscated 1,165 litres of wine, 1,027 litres of spirits and 1,255 litres of alcopops from underage drinkers in the campaign, which took place during a half-term break.

The figures will be seized upon by some commentators who claim underage drinking has been allowed to spiral out of control. But Government ministers hailed the results of the £760,000 campaign - staged by 39 police forces in England and Wales - as a success.

Of the 5,143 youngsters who surrendered alcohol to the police, 25% said they were aged 15 or under.

In all, more than 23,600 children came into contact with officers as a result of the campaign. The total volume of seized alcohol - across all types of drink - was 44,266 pints, or 20,946 litres.

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said: "Confiscating alcohol is just one part of our strategy to address the damage and disruption that underage drinking causes to youngsters, their families and the communities they live in.

"We are working across government to combine tough enforcement of the law with effective alcohol education for children and parents and to help young people find alternative things to do.

"I know the public will welcome police action to disperse groups of threatening youths and choke their supply of alcohol. This campaign will not be the last."

Between February 8 and 24, police and community support officers acted on tip-offs from the public and on local police intelligence to target groups of youngsters in what the Home Office described as "underage drinking hotspots".

Mr Coaker added: "I want to remind parents of their responsibility and where poor parenting is identified as an issue I want to see greater use of parenting contracts to tackle persistent underage drinking."