ALCOHOL worth almost £1,500 has been poured down the drain.

The drinks, which include beer, lager, cider, wine, vodka and absinthe and have the unit equivalent of 500 pints of beer, have been confiscated by police from under-age drinkers in Worcester since the beginning of the year.

Officers have caught minors drinking on the city's streets and in parks, gardens, recreation areas and other open spaces.

PC Craig Prewer, who covers the St Peter's and St Clement's areas of Worcester, said: "In the vast majority of instances, the alcohol has been taken directly from young people, both boys and girls, seen by officers.

"In a small number of cases, packs of drinks have been retrieved from hedge-rows and other hiding places as under-age drinkers have dumped them, presumably in the hope of retrieving them later.

"The vast majority of anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related crime is caused at weekends, in the main, by young people who have gained illegal access to alcohol. We have become increasingly aware of this trend and targeted certain areas with these confiscated items as part of the result."

PC Prewer added that staff at off-licences were frustrated by adult customers buying alcohol but then, sometimes blatantly, passing it on to under-age teenagers.

He urged people not to do this as quite often the consequences are anti-social behaviour, petty crimes and violence that could easily have been avoided.

"Everyone has a role to play in controlling alcohol sales to and misuse by teenagers," he said. "It should not be left purely to off-licence staff.

"A considerable number of adults need to adopt a far more responsible attitude to the problem and not add to it and then simply walk away."