...city of London. There is public support for a Chief Constable's call to raise the legal age for drinking alcohol from 18 to 21, but continued opposition to forcing up the price by raising tax levels. Those are the main findings of a poll conducted for Channel 4 News following the call by the Cheshire Chief Constable Peter Fahy earlier this week. Mr. Fahy's comment on our program followed the killing of the father-of-three Garry Newlove who was beaten to death outside his home after confronting a group of youths. James Blake reports.

We've just received a telephone call that there are a group of people drinking on one of the local parks.

On patrol in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, this community wardens are out looking for children drinking in the streets and they are not hard to find. Each week, piles of cans, bottles and spirits are seized, there is a thriving black market in underage booze fueled by parents, siblings and older friends.

They get very brave and very bold, um, where somebody, not for a real decent kid. when they have another drink, when they've had a few, they just turn into a completely different person. And it makes our job can be twice as difficult really.

Momentum is building for a change in the law. After Garry Newlove was killed confronting youths outside his home, the Chief Constable spoke out.

Well, I think a lot of people now say the price of alcohol should be raised and in particular for the highest drinks, beers and for the spirits.

So Channel 4 News has commissioned to survey. A thousand adults were asked if they agree with the police. Should the drinking age be raised to 21? A majority 52% said yes. Do you think raising the price of alcohol will reduce antisocial behavior? Only 25% said yes, nearly 3 quarters said no.

In Wallington this group of 16 to 18-year-old were asked, would a change in the law make any impact at all?

Young people have to find money. They steal, they save or borrow, they'd find money somehow.
So if it was raised to 21, do you think that would have an impact on them?
Yeah, because then the people out there will get in, like, might have got ID for them. So it will stop from drinking.

At Newcastle crown court yesterday, another trial involving drunken teenagers. This time a man was attacked and kicked into a coma. Sentencing the judge said:
Youngsters who drink too much will face punitive action. Those who are drunk and abuse the rights and entitlements of those law-abiding members of society will get punished.

So pressure now from the police and the judiciary, and the Channel 4 News survey suggests most people want action, too, but by raising the age limit not the prices.

And you can see further results from other opinion poll on our website.

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1.booze:Booze is alcoholic drink.