2,000 alcohol-fuelled troublemakers were handed fixed penalty notices

Nearly 2,000 alcohol-fuelled troublemakers were handed fixed penalty notices in the first four weeks of this summer's police enforcement campaign.

The enforcement campaign is targeting alcohol-related disorder and underage drinking in 92 communities across the country. Results from the first month of the initiative show that:

• Five per cent of the 14,000 premises visited were found to have committed an offence
• Of the 646 sting operations conducted, 51 per cent of on licence and 29 per cent of off licence premises were found to be selling alcohol to under-18s
• Police issued 1,869 fixed penalty notices - 794 for causing harassment, 786 for being drunk and disorderly and 289 for other alcohol-related offences
• Police confiscated alcohol from 1,764 under-18s and from 2,553 adults found in a 'designated area'

Alcohol fuels around half of all violent crime. At peak times 70 per cent of hospital accident and emergency department admissions are due to alcohol. One in five people say alcohol causes a problem in their area.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said the figures were a credit to the police forces, local authorities and trading standards teams taking part in the operation.

"Today's figures show that this co-ordinated police blitz up and down the country is already delivering real results in tackling underage and binge drinking and alcohol-fuelled disorder," he said.

"We are no longer prepared to tolerate our towns and city centres becoming no-go areas on Friday and Saturday nights. We are determined to tackle the problem head-on with tough enforcement action and work with the alcohol industry to tackle irresponsible selling."

The blitz will continue until the end of the August bank holiday weekend.