IT is a fact of life that many under-age teenagers experiment with alcohol.

Pubs and clubs which cater for the younger end of the market have a very difficult job differentiating between those who are over 18 and those who are not.

Many schoolgirls -- as Chuck Berry put it -- are wearing tight dresses and lipstick and sportin' high heel shoes.

And lads are not lads until they have demonstrated that they look old enough to con a doorman, barman or the shopkeeper at the local off-licence.

People try to get round laws such as this -- it is part of human nature -- but when the practice becomes commonplace there is a need for something to done.

According to our story tonight the Government is now poised to change the laws of England and Wales so retailers can be secretly tested to see whether they are prepared to sell alcohol to children.

At present Trading Standards officers can use children to make test purchases of things like tobacco and fireworks because they would not be breaking the law themselves.

But Home Office Minister Paul Boateng has now said that -- in response to "pressure from a number of quarters" -- it is proposed to amend the law to make it clear that test purchases will be able to be made for alcohol sales in future.

This should rightly cause unscrupulous retailers some concern.

But spare a thought for the problems faced by those in the industry who really do try to uphold the law against determined teenage opposition.

Some pubs and clubs have introduced their own identity scheme -- with variable success -- but it is difficult to see how a booze snoopers' charter could be introduced without calls for some sort of official card to clear up confusion once and for all.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.