A CRACKDOWN by police and licensing officers has been calling time on under-age drinking and illegal alcohol sales in Clevedon. From 5pm-12midnight on Friday, 12 uniformed and plain-clothes police officers, and two North Somerset Council employees, spent

A CRACKDOWN by police and licensing officers has been calling time on under-age drinking and illegal alcohol sales in Clevedon.From 5pm-12midnight on Friday, 12 uniformed and plain-clothes police officers, and two North Somerset Council employees, spent seven hours staking out off-licences in the seaside town.In addition, they toured Clevedon on the lookout for under-age drinkers and people knocking back booze in areas of the town where alcohol bans are in force. As a result of the operation, they seized three crates of lager, caught six under-age drinkers red-handed and are reporting two off-licences to the district council's trading standards department.Sector inspector for Nailsea, Steve Date, said: "On Friday, police officers from Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon joined forces with licensing officers from North Somerset Council to challenge under-age drinkers and target premises selling alcohol to under-age youngsters."There have been a lot of concerns from residents about under-age drinking."We conducted the operation to show that it won't be tolerated and we are determined to tackle it in a proactive way."Parents of under-age drinkers must be aware of what they're up to because of the state they come back home in."In the future, we'll be visiting their parents and encouraging them to play a vital role in discouraging such illegal and antisocial behaviour."FIVE shop assistants in Nailsea and Portishead have been fined for selling alcohol to children.Members of North Somerset Council's trading standards team and police officers visited small independent shops, convenience store chains and national supermarkets in the two towns.Two of the Nailsea premises, and three of the Portishead ones, sold booze illegally to 15 and 16-year-old volunteers.The five shop assistants were each fined £80 and action is being taken against the licensees.Anyone who is concerned about the sale of alcohol to young people can notify the trading standards team on 01275 888634.