A CRACKDOWN on under-age drinking in Teesdale has had a drastic effect in reducing the amount of anti-social behaviour.

Adults who have been buying alcohol for youngsters have been targeted by police as part of Operation Capone, which started last month to coincide with the beginning of the school holidays.

Police have been concentrating their efforts on the top ten hotspots for anti-social behaviour in Barnard Castle and the surrounding villages, and have seen complaints from residents drop by almost half.

Police have identified a number of people believed to be supplying alcohol to youngsters under 18 and are working with off-licences to reduce the problem.

One man has already been reported to court for the offence.

Acting Inspector Bill Dutton, of Barnard Castle police, said a number of older people were buying drinks for young people.

He said: "We're very pleased this seems to be going well.

"This isn't easy to sort out with off-licences as they are not selling to young people. Other people are legitimately buying alcohol before passing it on to young people.

"But we've managed to pass one case on for prosecution, which is the first time in a while this has been done."

In the first three weeks of the holidays last year, there were 18 reports of anti-social behaviour compared with ten this year.

The operation is expected to continue through the holiday.

Police and community support officers have also been searching and confiscating alcohol from underage drinkers and those people believed to have been supplying to alcohol to youngsters.

One group of youngsters in Barnard Castle had 20 cans confiscated from them at the weekend. Insp Dutton said: "Officers are using their local knowledge to find out where the youths gather.

"We also work hard to identify where young people are just 'hanging out' to check if the reports of anti-social behaviour are less justified and more likely to be intolerance by the community."

The operation is part of the force's Streetsafe strategy, which aims to target anti-social behaviour and low-level crime that can affect people's quality of life.

Work is also being done to provide activities for young people to spend their leisure time more productively.