IT'S a price tag to rival that of the best wines kept in some of the finest cellars.

But one humble bottle of Lambrini has become the most expensive ever - costing a North-East shopkeeper £2,600.

Which is even more surprising when the wine concerned, made from fermented pears, was originally sold for only £2.44.

Its real value was revealed in London's High Court yesterday when the owner of a village off-licence, wrongly acquitted of selling the Lambrini to an under-age teenager, was ordered to pay legal costs.

The order was made as a senior judge warned licensees of the serious view courts take if they fail to ask youngsters for proof that they are old enough to buy alcohol.

The case arose after Carol Dawson, 60, was prosecuted for selling alcohol to a 15-year-old girl in March last year at The Village Store, in Springwell Village, Washington, Wearside.

Jim Wotherspoon, representing Sunderland City Council's trading standards department, welcomed the deterrent effect of the ruling and said: "This must be the most expensive bottle of Lambrini that has ever been purchased."

Lord Justice Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Fulford, said a child volunteer was used to buy the bottle for £2.44, which was clearly labelled as containing 7.5 per cent alcohol by volume.

The judge said Dawson did not dispute selling the bottle but did not ask for any proof of age - the minimum age to buy alcohol is 18 - because she "looked old enough".

When Dawson appeared before Houghton-le-Spring magistrates, her lawyers argued there was no proof the bottle contained alcohol because there was no certificate of analysis before the court and she was found not guilty of any offence.

But Lord Justice Thomas quashed the acquittal and said it was clear that labels on bottles were proof of their contents.

He ordered Dawson to pay Sunderland council the £1,600 it had cost to overturn the magistrates' decision.

He said that she also faced a further £1,000 bill from her own solicitors, although her barrister indicated he would waive his own fee for the hearing.