MORE than 20 bottles and cans of alcohol were seized during a crackdown on underage drinking in St Neots. Police and trading standards officers have been out patrolling the streets looking for underage drinkers as part of the town s Community Alcohol Part

MORE than 20 bottles and cans of alcohol were seized during a crackdown on underage drinking in St Neots.

Police and trading standards officers have been out patrolling the streets looking for underage drinkers as part of the town's Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) campaign.

Officers visited Longsands Play Park and Priory Park where they confiscated bottles and cans from 16 and 17-year-olds.

The list included three bottles of beer, two litres of cider, three pint sized bottles of alcohol pops, nine bottles of larger, nine cans of larger and a bottle of Mickey Finn's schnapps.

Sector Inspector for St Neots, Mark Greenhalgh, told The Hunts Post: "It was year 11 school leavers' day so we had expected to seize some alcohol.

"It was definitely a success as no one likes to see youths drinking on the streets or outside their homes."

Ten letters have been sent to the parents of the teenagers who were found drinking or in possession of alcohol.

This is the second year CAP has been operating in St Neots.

The project was a huge success last year, producing a 42 per cent reduction in anti-social behaviour in the town's underage drinking hotspots.

This year CAP is hoping for the same success with operations planned throughout the summer.

Already Huntingdonshire District Council's licensing officers have visited off-licensed premises in St Neots, Eynesbury, the Eatons and Little Paxton. They delivered CAP posters, stickers and leaflets warning adults about the dangers of giving alcohol to children.