Alcohol consumption among 11 to 15 year olds has doubled in the last 10 years and the UK has the second highest rate of teenage drinking in Europe. The new duty is shared with the police and arrangements are being made for the Trading Standards Service to take responsibility for the 1,200 off-licences and shops which sell drink in the county. The police will concentrate on pubs and clubs

For the first time the law allows ‘test purchases’ of alcohol by under 18 year olds when acting on the instructions of a trading standards officer or police officer - previously this was illegal. The changes reflect the experience of Trading Standards in enforcing the law on a range of age-restricted products, from cigarettes to fireworks, solvents, videos and CD games

The Service has used young volunteers to carry out test purchases of such products for many years. Under official guidelines for test purchasing cigarettes, youngsters must not be over 14 and should give their true age if asked. This prevents shops from being misled into selling but it does not reflect the real world, where teenagers will claim they are the correct age. It is appreciated that retailers have a very difficult job in judging age but there are now a variety of proof-of-age cards available that they can ask to see