Police seized a mountain of alcohol as they tightened their grip on drink-related crime in Brighton and Hove.

Most of the £500 worth of beer, alcopops and spirits confiscated in the past three weeks came from under-age drinkers.

One youngster stopped in Brighton and found to be drunk was aged just nine.

PC Steve Cheesman, of the city police licensing unit, said: "This really is just the tip of the iceberg.

"The alcohol you see here is sealed.

"What you don't see is the hundreds of opened cans and bottles of alcohol that have been confiscated from youths and poured away and disposed of on the spot.

"This is part of the Enough is Enough campaign launched in September by Chief Constable Ken Jones to target yobbish behaviour in Sussex.

"Police and licensing officers will continue to run operations throughout the city using a variety of techniques to crackdown on those who are enabling youngsters to get their hands on alcohol.

"These techniques may include uniformed officers checking licensed premises and plain-clothes officers acting as 'spotters' to see if bar staff are serving drunks or under-age people.

"And we will continue working with Trading Standards, conducting test purchases in all licensed premises.

"It is no secret that excess drinking can lead to the drunk person being involved in crime or anti-social behaviour.

"They also leave themselves more vulnerable as a potential target for criminals.

"These youngsters are getting their alcohol from somewhere and we will relentlessly target those who buy alcohol for under-18s or sell to under- 18s.

"They will receive £80 fines and we will most definitely take further action against persistent offenders.

"Youths who are persistently found consuming alcohol will have visits and meetings from police with their parents present.

"Parents should know where their children are and what they are doing.

"If they do not, they should find out before a police officer tells them their child has been caught getting drunk or trying to buy alcohol illegally."