Pubs and off-licences have been warned not to sell alcohol to youngsters celebrating their GCSEs results tomorrow, following a sting operation when A-level results were released.
Forty per cent of premises tested on Thursday sold a 'disturbing amount' of alcohol to youngsters aged between 14 and 16.
The teenagers managed to buy a bottle of Bulmers cider, two bottles of Smirnoff Ice, a can of Guinness and a bottle of Old Speckled Hen from four out of the 10 premises tested.
The sting operation was carried out in Bury St Edmunds and surrounding villages by Trading Standards and Suffolk Police as part of underage drinking campaign Put a Cork In It.
Marc Titford, senior Trading Standards officer, hoped the campaign would help premises to be more careful when the GCSE results are published tomorrow.
"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 and the findings are very disturbing," said Mr Titford.
"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."
Four premises were found to be selling alcohol to underage children – two had been caught in previous alcohol test purchase operations.
According to Mr Titford, the sellers are likely to have been fined £80, but said Trading Standards would 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 is running 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, especially as the GCSE results will be coming out tomorrow."
The two-year campaign had showed an improvement in underage sales last year, as only 18 per cent of premises failed to check youths for identification in test purchases.
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