students in Aireborough are to be given 'proof of age' cards in a move to curb under-age drinking.

The initiative - launched by West Yorkshire Trading Standards and backed by the Aireborough Community Involvement Team - will also enable retailers to escape the danger of being fined up to £20,000.

The CIT has agreed to give the group £1,394 following a presentation by Trading Standards representative Lynn Davies at its meeting last Thursday.

The money will fund a 'proof of age' card for all students aged 16 and over in the area which will also give youngsters discounts on food, CDs and clothes.

The project will help retailers determine if a child is old enough to buy alcohol, and if they sell alcohol to anyone under 18 in future they could face a £20,000 fine or a short prison term.

Mrs Davies said: "We have been enforcing age restriction for 15 years and the Licensing Act for ten years. Retailers do find it very hard to tell the age of children.

"A couple of years ago we started researching various schemes throughout the country and we put together this programme.

"We held a successful six-month pilot in the East of Leeds and the success was shown by the fact we have had no complaints from members of the public since.

"We can now guarantee that any youngster above the age of 16 will have a 'proof of age' card and the date at which they turn 18.

"It gives the retailer a chance to turn them away. If they haven't got a card they don't serve them. The cards have discounts and benefits for the youngsters so it is in their interest to carry them.

"At the moment the Licensing Act fines retailers £1,000 but this is going to rise to £20,000 or six months imprisonment. We are getting rid of the argument retailers have been giving us for the past ten years. Now they will have no excuse.

"If they make that sale and it is a genuine mistake, they have asked the youngster for the proof of age card and it is counterfeit, they have a defence. If they ask for nothing they have no defence. There will be a mechanism in the card which will prevent it from being counterfeited."

Previously Trading Standards used test purchases to catch retailers out.

They would sent under-age children into the shop to ask for items they were not allowed to buy, but if asked their age they would not be allowed to lie.

Now the cards will enable retailers to protect themselves by not serving anyone not carrying one.