Trading Standards and Suffolk Police carried out the operation as part of the Put a Cork In It campaign.

Youngsters aged 14 and 16 tried to buy alcohol from 10 outlets, four of which sold the alcohol to them.

Cider, alcopops and beer was sold from four of the 10 premises tested.

The operation was carried out when A-level results were released last Thursday.

Marc Titford, senior Trading Standards officer, said: "It's not just the selling to underage children, it's the amount of alcohol that has been purchased, as we look at the effect it would have. The findings are very disturbing.

"We carry out test purchases at any time of the year but obviously we look at specific times when the added problems of anti-social behaviour could be potent, such as when GCSES and A-level results are released, as youngsters are going to be celebrating."

Two premises in Bury and two in surrounding villages were caught selling alcohol to underage children – two of those have been caught in previous alcohol test purchases.

According to Mr Titford, the sellers of the alcohol are likely to be fined £80, but Trading Standards will now explore each case in more depth and the business owners could face court fines of up to £5,000 and/or a review of their licence.

John Griffiths, chairman of the West Suffolk Local Strategic Partnership, which runs the campaign, said: "This is quite a mixture of alcohol and could make children very ill. We hope this test will prompt off-licences to tighten up their approach to underage alcohol sales."

The two-year campaign showed an improvement in underage sales last year, as only 18 per cent of premises failed to check the youths for identification.

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