Police move cuts youth drinking

Drinking alcohol was a common activity for most of those questioned

Almost three-quarters of under-16s reduced their alcohol intake after police caught them drinking in the street, a new study has suggested.

Researchers questioned 100 youngsters aged 12-16 after their contact with Lothian and Borders Police officers.

More than six in 10 (62%) of those surveyed said they had drunk alcohol since police caught them, but almost four in 10 (38%) said they had not.

In total, 74% said they were drinking less and had changed what they drank.

The survey assessed the impact of Operation Floorsweep, which aimed to target under-age drinking and associated anti-social behaviour.

Operation Floorsweep was not designed to be a killjoy operation Jim Baird Lothian and Borders Police

The initiative involved community police officers stopping drunk under-16s, taking them to a police station, calling in their parents and giving them a warning.

Researchers then quizzed the youngsters between six months to a year after the contact with police.

They found that drinking was a common activity for most of those surveyed.

A total of 88% said they had drunk alcohol by the time they were 14, while more than half had done so by the age of 13.

'Safeguarding children'

More than half said alcohol had made them sick, while more than one in 10 said they had been unconscious or fallen asleep outside.

Buckfast tonic wine was the most popular alcohol, drunk by 37%, while 31% drank both alcopops and spirits.

The study indicated that before the initiative, 55% of the youths had not discussed drinking with their parents, but since being caught, 74% said they had talked about it.

Ch Insp Jim Baird, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "Operation Floorsweep was not designed to be a killjoy operation.

"It is about safeguarding children, who make themselves vulnerable through alcohol misuse and ensuring children get the education and the help they need to change their behaviour.

"It also aimed to make parents take responsibility for their child's behaviour and to hold those irresponsible enough to supply alcohol to underage children accountable for their actions and to be punished accordingly."