Mr K Chandrakumar, proprietor and licence holder of the Penycae convenience store in Penycae, was caught in a police and trading standards sting designed to crack down on alcohol sales to children.

He was also fined a total of £750, £80 costs and a £15 victim surcharge after pleading guilty to two charges of selling alcohol to underage youngsters. Though magistrates decided not to suspend his licence they warned that licence suspension would be possible if further offences were reported.

The prosecutions were brought by Wrexham Council and related to two incidents last summer.

The court was told that on May 11, 2007, two male 15-year-old test purchase volunteers bought two 70cl bottles of Red Square Vodka mix drink with an alcohol percentage of 5.1 per cent.

The volunteers were taking part in a test purchasing exercise organised by the trading standards division of Wrexham Council and North Wales Police, part of a campaign to tackle sales of alcohol to underage children by targeting premises that had been the subject of complaints. The sale was made by worker Rasika Perera, who received an £80 fixed penalty ticket.

The second incident on June 22, 2007, was witnessed by and initially investigated by a police community support officer in Penycae who issued a further £80 fixed penalty ticket to Mr Perera after a 16-year-old youth had purchased a bottle of White Ace cider from him.

Mr Chandrakumar was not present when either incident occurred.

"Owners and licensees of off-licences must ensure that their staff have adequate training to prevent underage sales and that the staff are following their instructions," said Wrexham Council's chief housing and public protection officer Andy Lewis.

"This is another good result for trading standards staff and North Wales Police working in partnership to prevent alcohol from being sold to children.

"Underage drinking puts the health of our young people at risk and is a major cause of anti-social behaviour. We will continue to seek prosecution against shop licensees who ignore our warnings."

The trading standards division were able to carry out more test purchases last year thanks to funding from the Community Safety Partnership for a part-time officer to concentrate on the issue of reducing alcohol sales to underage purchasers.

Anyone who would like further information or advice about how to prevent inappropriate alcohol sales should contact Wrexham Council trading standards on 01978 292045.