A charity has been hired to patrol the streets of Bolton to hunt for drunken youngsters.

Youth workers from the crime rehabilitation charity Nacro were on the town’s estates at the weekend, in a scheme to highlight the dangers of heavy drinking.

They will try to recruit the worst culprits on a 14-week course during which they will have trips to fire stations and talks by police officers, prison staff and medical staff.

The teams are based in the Farnworth area and hope to eventually move into Horwich and Westhoughton. The expansion follows successful test schemes in Bromley Cross and Great Lever.

The scheme is run by Bolton Council and funded by the Government and is part of the Weekenders project being run in Bolton by youth workers and Nacro.

Ian Hepplewhite, of the council’s youth inclusion team, said: “The activities provide young people with a positive diversion and break down barriers between teenagers and the police.

“This means that officers can police their patches much more effectively because the young people are talking to them. We also identify local shops which supply alcohol to underage people and have had former alcoholics coming to speak to the children.”

Stuart Barnes, who runs the charity Zac’s Youth Bar in Farnworth, welcomed the plans.

He said: “Any additional resources to tackle the problem are a bonus. We do what we can but we are stretched.”

A recent NHS survey said some Bolton children were drinking an average of 17.7 units of alcohol a week — the equivalent of eight pints of lager or almost two bottles of wine.

The Weekenders project has been a success in Great Lever, where youth arrests have fallen.