HUNDREDS of bottles of beer, wine, vodka, and cider have been seized by police in a region-wide crackdown on underage drinkers.

More than 539 units of alcohol were removed from Darlington drinkers as young as 15 years old on Friday night (May 27), after they had taken to town centre parks and woodland to celebrate the start of half-term.

The Friday evening binge led to the “worrying” discovery that some of the youngsters were drinking on the streets with their parents’ permission after they had been bought alcohol by their own mums and dads.

But police officers carrying out Operation Staysafe were not shocked by the results of their haul from across County Durham and North Yorkshire after revealing that underage drinkers are consuming more and more alcohol in the region.

PC Claire McNaney, of Durham Police’s Harm Reduction Unit, said: “Some parents buy their children alcohol in the belief that they know what they’re drinking and there is some merit to that.

“But parents need to be educated on how vulnerable that alcohol can make their child when they go drinking near water or busy roads.

“It’s unbelievable and worrying that they get it from their parents sometimes, but we issue those parents with fixed penalty notices of £90.

“I think the notices send the message out because a lot of people read about these things and think it’ll never happen to them, but it does.

“It’s about educating the parents and letting them know they’re making their children vulnerable.”

Bottles, cans and crates were also seized from youngsters across County Durham on Friday night, which left police asking parents if they knew what their children were up to over the weekend.

And despite the mass amount of alcohol seized in Darlington on Friday, only one girl was taken back to the Gladstone Street base for her own safety.

But PC McNaney added that this is not always the case and dealing with tipsy and drunk teenagers can be time-consuming.

She said: “A stand-out incident would have to be when an under-18 party got out of hand last year and there were around 100 kids just drunk.

“That was quite shocking and I know I’m never comfortable to let these young people go on their way when they’re drunk and I know my colleagues will feel the same.

“Sometimes we do have to arrest underage drinkers, but that’s usually because of how they view the police.

“I always treat these young people with respect and build up a rapport so they’re much more likely to respond to us in the future.

“Not all young people choose to spend their nights drinking though and it’s always great to see them playing football in the park instead without any alcohol in sight.“

Operation Staysafe was originally launched as part of the Government’s £100m Youth Crime Action Plan in 2008.

And eight years later, forces across the country are still tackling youth crime and anti-social behaviour as part of the Staysafe crackdowns which have been in operation in Darlington since 2009.