TWO men have been fined £80 each after being caught buying alcohol for children during a covert operation.

The pair, aged 24 and 18, were filmed by secret cameras trained on Bargain Booze, Bury Road, Breightmet, as part of a police crackdown on adults buying drink for under-18s.

Police spotted the 24-year-old handing eight cans of lager to a 15-year-old girl and saw the 18-year-old male giving a one-litre bottle of Lambrini to a group of 14-year-old schoolgirls.

Both were questioned by police after being caught on Friday December 15 and accepted £80 on-the-spot fines.

Police are using plain clothes officers and hidden cameras at a number of shops where they have received reports that children are being bought alcohol by adults.

Sgt Leon Jacobs said: "The volume of alcohol which these kids are able to get their hands on with relative ease is quite frightening.

"It would appear that some adults do not recognise the problems that are caused by fuelling youngsters with large amounts of drink."