A CRACKDOWN on under-age drinkers has led to police throwing many litres of alcohol down the drain.

Forty cans of lager, 15 bottles of lager, 31 litres of strong cider, 31 bottles of white wine and a bottle of vodka were seized from youngsters aged 12 to 16 in the past two months.

The seizures were made as part of an effort in the Eston, Normanby, Ormesby and Nunthorpe areas to stamp out anti-social behaviour.

The youngsters, who gather in groups to drink, particularly on weekend evenings, have also caused damage in Eston cemetery.

Police sais that in many instances, older youths were buying the alcohol for the youngsters, who could get it for themselves from local off-licences.

Sergeant Rob Wilkins, of Eston police, said: "We have been running an operation over the past two months - Operation Relentless - which is specifically aimed at reducing the menace of under-age drinking, which results in anti-social behaviour.

"We have been stopping anyone with alcohol, confiscating it and initiating the Anti-Social Behaviour Order process, which means a letter will be sent to their parents, and if they reoffend, the courts may place restraints on them.

"It seems to be a tradition on a Friday night for the youngsters to go to parks, into the hills or up to the cemetery and drink alcohol.

"It's when they're drunk that they cause the problems, such as creating noise, damaging property and making a mess.

"Parents are generally supportive if we manage to collar the kids and take them home, but some aren't."

Eston ward councillor Ann Higgins believes the scheme is a good step forward but said that more needed to be done, particularly by parents.

"We need the parents' help and we need to change attitudes," she said.

"It is a great problem in the area. I came out of a resident's house last week and there were ten 14 to 15-year-old girls with bags of alcohol, going up into the Eston hills.

"It is this binge drinking that causes most of the problems and it is affecting the youngsters' health."