Booze seized from teen drinkers

A total of just 21 litres of beer and two fireworks were seized from teenagers during a month-long police blitz on underage drinking in public places in the West Midlands.

Police and community support officers targeted hotspots, confiscating alcohol and dispersing threatening gangs of youngsters suspected of drink-related crime and disorder. West Midlands Police was one of 21 forces across England and Wales which took part in the Government-funded campaign. The results were revealed by the Home Office today.

West Midlands Police ran their campaign in the Kings Heath area of Birmingham.

The haul equates to 1.5 cans of beer per night.

The crackdown ran from October 8 to November 5 and focused on weekends, the half-term school holiday, Halloween and Bonfire Night.

Nationwide, some 6,227 children were approached by the police during the crackdown and the equivalent of 6,500 pints of alcohol was seized.

This included some 2,960 litres of beer, 380 litres of cider, 255 litres of wine, 161 litres of spirits, 287 bottles of alcopops and 340 fireworks.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker warned today that the initiative would "not be the last" on tackling the problem.

Mr Coaker said: "This campaign was designed to bring to bear the full range of police tools and powers to tackle the harm that is caused to individuals and communities by underage drinking.

"Quite simply we will not tolerate drinking in public by under-18s or anyone else where it leads to anti-social and intimidating behaviour.

"Confiscation complements our efforts to tackle the supply of alcohol to children.

"The enforcement of underage sales law has hardened dramatically in recent years and I know that many alcohol retailers have raised their game and now routinely apply 'Challenge 21' criteria to anyone who looks underage.

"The Government remains committed to working with the police and local authorities to use every measure at our disposal – both coercive and cooperative – to make sure everyone over the age of 18 can enjoy alcohol safely and responsibly," he added.