The number of shopkeepers being fined for selling alcohol to underage teenagers has fallen, new figures have revealed.

Research by The Argus shows that in 2007 Sussex Police issued 59 £80 fixed penalty notices or fines to shops caught selling alcohol to under-18s - 30 fewer than the previous year.

The figures show a reduction in police action in Brighton and Hove and the North Downs division.

Police said this was because shops and offlicences were more aware of children trying to buy alcohol.

There were also fewer arrests of under-18s for being drunk, from 213 in 2006 to 190 last year.

In Brighton and Hove, police issued eight fines in 2007 compared with 79 the year before.

In 2006, a number of shops were repeatedly caught for selling drink including Threshers off-licence in King's Parade, Brighton, which was fined four times in 2006. A total of seven fines were issued to shops in St James's Street in Kemp Town in 2006.

A total of 26 notices were issued in the North Downs division in 2006, although this figure dropped to 18 in 2007.

Of that figure, Crawley's shops received 11 fines in 2006 and seven in 2007.

In contrast, East Sussex saw a dramatic increase in notices being issued from four in 2006 to 33 a year later.

A total of ten were issued in Hastings and eight in Eastbourne in 2007.

No figures were available for the West Downs division covering areas such as Worthing, Arun, Bognor and Chichester for 2006. In 2007 only one shop was fined.

Police have in the past carried out sting operations in which under-18 volunteers tested off-licences by trying to buy alcohol.

Sergeant Malcolm Wauchope, who is based at Brighton police station, said: "There was a marked move towards education rather than strict enforcement and this, coupled with far less test purchase attempts being made, has resulted in the reduction.

"The statistics show that off-licences are becoming better educated with regards to underage sales.

"Both Brighton and Hove licensing officers and trading standards especially have spent some considerable time with off-licences on training and education to prevent sales being made."

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