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The figures

The national campaign, which followed a much smaller pilot during the October 2007 half term, produced the following figures:

• 25 per cent of the 5,143 youngsters who surrendered alcohol to the police said they were aged 15 or under
• a total of 23,621 youngsters came into contact with the police when alcohol was confiscated
• 3,585 directions to leave were issued
• of the 30 per cent who divulged where they had sourced their alcohol, half said they had bought it from a shop.

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 also 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. I also want to see greater sharing of information between police and local agencies about repeat offenders to address problems as early as possible.

"Police officers tell me that these campaigns yield valuable intelligence about where children get their alcohol. With this in mind, I want to send a strong signal once again to those persistent few irresponsible retailers that deliberately sell to under-18s. They will be caught and they will be punished. I also want to congratulate all the officers involved in what was clearly a successful campaign for their hard work and dedication."

Related websites

• Information from the Home Office on alcohol-related crime (opens new window)

More from Directgov

• Sensible drinking (health and well-being section)