UNDERAGE drinkers have been turned away from a Bolton town centre pub thanks to a new ID card scanner.

Last weekend, The Swan, in Churchgate, took part in a trial to use IDScan machines, which can immediately establish whether identification cards are fake or real, by checking them against a national database.

Door staff caught two teenagers attempting to use fake IDs to get into the pub on Saturday night. The youngsters were turned away and their details are now stored on the high-speed computer system.

Staff were also able to use the system to hold the details of a troublemaker who was barred from the premises, on Saturday, for consuming his own alcohol.

Landlord, Nick Hogan, said: "We were really pleased with the trial. We caught two people who might otherwise have slipped through the net - you wouldn't have known from looking at them that they were underage.

"The public reaction was great, most people thought it was a brilliant idea. We plan to keep the machines as a permanent fixture."

Town centre managers hope to install machines at all bars, pubs and clubs in Bolton.

The system has also been trialled at Reflex bar.