TEAMS of undercover underage "drinkers" have helped to cut illegal sales of booze to youngsters, a report says.

Now the policy looks likely to be extended in the hope it will have similar effects on sales of aerosol sprays and cigarettes.

Last year, trading standards officers in County Durham launched a drive to increase the use of young volunteers making test purchases of age-restricted items such as alcohol, tobacco, aerosol spray paint and fireworks.

A report to Durham County Council from acting environment director David Miller showed the number of shops breaking the law fell from 12 per cent of those tested down to only three per cent.

The report said some of the fall may be explained by unscrupulous traders getting wise to tactics employed by enforcement officers.

The report said: "There is anecdotal evidence to suggest traders are becoming wary of selling to children they do not know, but are still selling to local children.

"Our policy not to use young people who are local to their areas prevents us from testing this, but we are piloting alternative joint enforcement strategies with the police, who are targeting street confiscation of alcohol from youths and those selling to them around known trouble spots and then tracing it back to the supplying retailer.

"Hopefully, this will prove an even greater deterrent to those retailers willing to sell alcohol to local children."

The report said that while underage drinking has been targeted in response to public concern, children may find it easier to buy other age-restricted products.

Mr Miller will recommend that the authority increases its efforts to achieve similar results in relation to tobacco and aerosol spray paints, where the percentage of illegal sales last year were 33 per cent and 42 per cent of all attempted test purchases.