TEENAGERS as young as 13 who try to get into a Worcester nightclub so drunk they can barely stand up could find themselves spending a night in the cells.

Steve Bradford, who runs Images nightclub in The Butts, said doorstaff had been turning away drunken youngsters every week since the club started its new alcohol-free night for under-18s last month.

South Worcestershire police have now pledged to take a “zero tolerance” approach.

Head of policing Chief Supt Rod Reynolds said: “Under-age drinking is unacceptable and the police have zero tolerance towards it.

“The problem, however, remains both a concern for, and the responsibility of, the whole community. Everyone, from parents to licensed premises and from the police to the public, should play a constructive role in tackling the issue.

“Parents who are not as mindful as they should be about their youngsters drinking alcohol under age would surely take a different view if they had to come to Castle Street police station to collect them after they have spent a night in the cells.”

Mr Bradford said that the under 18s night at Images, which attracts more than 350 teenagers, was an attempt to keep Worcester youngsters off the streets and that most who attended were well behaved. However, a small minority regularly turn up drunk.

“For the past three weeks we’ve been turning away kids for being drunk,” he said.

“I was parking my car one evening and there were three girls there with great big bottles [of alcohol]. This was about 6.30pm.

“Then there’s one lad who’s come down two weeks running drunk. They were carrying him up the road under his arms. We’re talking about kids who are 13 and 14.”

Mr Bradford said doorstaff always refused entry to any young person they suspected of drinking alcohol.

Police said a ‘test purchasing’ operation may now be carried out on local premises to find out where youngsters are obtaining their alcohol, and requested a meeting with Mr Bradford to “assist in bringing about a speedy solution”.

Under-age drinking has fallen in Worcestershire over the past three years, but is still above average compared with the rest of the country.

In a survey that was carried out last year, 32 per cent of year eight pupils (12/13 years old) in Worcestershire said they had had at least one alcoholic drink in the past week. The UK average is 25 per cent.

Fourteen per cent of those who drank said they drank more than the advised weekly limit for adult females (14 units). The UK average is five per cent.

Kate Rowberry, of the Worcestershire Substance Misuse Action Team, said: “The truth is that under-age drinking is a problem everywhere in the UK, and agencies are working very hard to tackle this.”