Drink-fuelled anti-social behaviour has become more prolific in recent years, increasing people's fear of crime. Olivia Richwald hears how a North-East police force is recruiting shopkeepers to the front line in its fight back.

Twenty years ago, no one used the term anti-social behaviour. Now the problem, and the teenagers supposedly behind it, blight cities, towns and villages.

Police blame Britain's "drinking culture", saying the answer to reducing bad behaviour is getting youths away from alcohol.

In Darlington last year there were almost 5,000 reports of youths causing annoyance.

And now a study in the town has revealed 21 per cent of youth offending is alcohol related; and alcohol misuse is strongly linked to anti-social behaviour.

Darlington police have come up with a practical way of tackling the problem -by asking off-licences to stop selling alcohol to those under the age of 21 on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The idea behind the 21 or over scheme is to prevent 18 to 20-year-olds buying alcohol and giving or selling it to large groups of under-age friends.

There is no doubt this goes on. Malcolm Thompson, 67, who runs an off-licence in North Road, said: "On one occasion, this guy came in and bought white cider.

"My wife saw him then hand it over to youngsters and remonstrated with him. We told him 'don't come back' and I don't think he ever did."

The enforcement of the 21 or over policy is at shopkeepers' discretion.

Darlington police has promised to support every off-licence that agrees to take part.

Shops that do so will be given posters bearing the Durham Police logo. Shopkeepers can then refuse to serve drink and helpfully, put the blame on the police.

The Northern Echo has teamed up with the police to publish the names of those who sign up on a "roll of honour".

Off-licences that have already signed up as part of a pilot scheme in Cockerton and Branksome, in Darlington, have seen huge benefits.

In some cases, it has stopped large groups of youths hanging around outside shops and intimidating other customers.

Inspector Chris Reeves, of Darlington police, said: "We believe this will reduce the amount of alcohol being drunk in the streets by young people.

"The beauty of this is that, over time, it will stop young people congregating beside their business, which will attract other customers."

Insp Reeves said officers would visit every off-licence that was interested in taking part in the scheme, or wanted to find out more about how it could help their business, and reduce under-age drinking.

He said: "Shopkeepers can use this to their discretion. It is voluntary, but it enables them to have a buffer zone. Sometimes it is difficult to know the difference between 16 and 18, but it is easier to tell the difference between 16 and 21."

In March, Durham Police launched a StreetSafe unit to tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour in Darlington.

On weekday nights, the unit patrols the streets, stopping to talk to groups of youngsters hanging around.

They confiscate huge amounts of alcohol from children as young as ten.

Their experience backs up research published last week that revealed the amount of alcohol drunk by children on a regular basis has doubled in the past 15 years.

The average consumption of 11 to 15-year-olds who had drunk in the week before they took part in the survey was 10.7 units (five pints), up from 5.3 units in 1990.

PC Vince Myhan, of the StreetSafe unit, said there was an under-age drinking culture in Darlington.

The officers tip away dozens of litres of alcohol that they have confiscated from children.

Youngsters are also cunning. PC Myhan said: "We do not see as many cans as we used to, now they hide vodka in their Coke bottles.

"But white cider is their favourite without a shadow of a doubt. It is cheap and it is potent." A litre of White Star costs only £1.09.

The new Darlington crime, disorder and substance misuse reduction strategy, reports: "Young people in Darlington are drinking more and drinking at younger ages than in recent years. Young people, particularly young women, are vulnerable as a result of drinking.

In March, two Darlington teenagers died when they were hit by a train while messing around on rail tracks. An inquest into their deaths revealed they had drunk the equivalent of four to five pints of beer in an adult body.

After their deaths, it emerged that Darlington was one of the country's worst places for rail crime.

The Northern Echo and Network Rail launched the No Messin' campaign to highlight the dangers of messing around on rail lines, while promoting positive alternative activities.

PC Myhan said the 21 or over scheme reduced the amount of drink they youngsters could get.

He said: "The policy supports off-licences because it puts the onus on the police.

"If licensees are affected or frightened by groups of youths trying to buy alcohol, this allows them to say 'sorry, this is a police scheme, it is not my idea, blame the police'."

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said: "The council applauds this initiative as it support several of the local authority's ongoing schemes designed to curb under-age and binge drinking."

Shops that would like to take part in the scheme are asked to call The Northern Echo on (01325) 505107.