A YOUTH club is to breathalyse teenagers at the door in a radical bid to combat booze problems.

Leaders at the Sweatbox youth club, in Wantage, have taken the step after they said children as young as 12 were turning up “absolutely bladdered”.

Garry Kingett said ambulances were being called to pick up drunk youngsters every month from the club at King Alfred’s Sports College, in Springfield Road.

In December, the club was closed by organisers because of the spiralling problems. Now Mr Kingett has decided on a crackdown for the centre’s weekly Friday night event, Sweaty, which is being relaunched on February 26.

He said: “I will be using the breathalyser to stop young people who have been drinking from coming into the club.

“We could not operate safely dealing with the amount of young people abusing alcohol. They would get drunk off their trolley and come here on a Friday night.

“If they got comatose their friends would dump them outside and clear off and we would have to call the paramedics.

“The drink culture is the going rate nowadays. Kids aim to get absolutely bladdered and out of their tree.

“That is not what the Sweatbox is about. We do not want kids who have been drinking to make their way here and we want it to be a safe and peaceful place.”

Other tough new measures designed to crack down on alcohol will include random bag searches and a no-readmissions policy.

It is the first time breath tests have been introduced at an Oxfordshire youth club, but venues in Kettering and Corby already use the system. Mr Kingett said breathalyser tests would be random and take place in a separate room as teenagers arrived at the club.

He said: “If a young person fails the test, we will record the incident and then telephone their parents to let them know what their child has been up to.

“Then they will be turned away. Of course, if we have concerns over their health and safety — for example if they drank so much they were falling over — we will try to keep them at the club until their parents arrive.”

The club currently has 1,850 members, each of whom has to supply their parents’ contact details.

Mr Kingett said if any non-members fail the breathalyser test he will coordinate with their schools and try “other ways” to get hold of their parents.

He decided to close the venue in December after consultation with the Sweatbox Union, the club’s youth council.

Residents in Springfield Road have welcomed the decision to breathalyse youngsters at the door.

Neighbour Lyn Westwood said: “I live opposite the Sweatbox and there seems to be a bit of an epidemic of drinking, particularly at that young age. The teenagers need to go somewhere, but not if they will treat it as a pub, and I welcome this crackdown on alcohol.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: “I think breathalysing the teenagers is sensible. They cannot be seen to allow alcohol to be drunk and if it cuts down on the noise then it’s a good idea.”

About 200 youngsters visit the club each week.

Mr Kingett added there was a problem in the town with girls as young as 12 dressing provocatively and paying older boys to buy them alcohol.

Insp Ian Money, from Thames Valley Police, said: “Antisocial behaviour and underage drinking is something we are very keen to tackle, and the two often go hand-in-hand. Any initiative that helps to educate young people about the dangers of alcohol will always get our support.”

Chris Trent worked at The Mish youth club in St Clements, Oxford, for eight years. The club operated as a mock “pub” for under-18s, but alcohol was banned.

Mr Trent, 42, said: “The breathalyser idea does make sense. It seems a fair idea.”

The age at which you can visit Sweaty will be increased to year nine (14-year-olds) up to 18, and a free bus will now stop off in Grove.

The free bus will stop in Grove outside the Q8 garage, in Main Street at 7.30pm, Tesco Express, in Millbrook Square at 7.40pm, and Brereton Drive, opposite Membury Way, at 7.50pm. It will leave the Sweatbox at 10.30pm and stop off at the same spots.