A PILOT scheme to prevent alcohol abuse among Southampton schoolchildren has been declared a success.

More than 2,000 of the city's 11 to 12-year-olds in ten secondary schools took part in the initiative which organisers hope will now be rolled out nationwide.

It comes as Alcohol Concern has today said parents who give alcohol to under 15s - even with a meal at home - should face prosecution.

A spokesman said: ''Currently it is legal to provide children as young as five with alcohol in a private home.

''Raising the age limit to 15 would send a stronger message to parents of the risks associated with letting very young people consume alcohol."

Alcohol Concern made the recommendation as part of a wide-ranging set of proposals to cut child drinking in a report, entitled Glass Half Empty.

The Daily Echo's Keep Kids Sober campaign has already begun to encourage adults and parents - as the main source of alcohol for younger children - to take a more active and responsible role in teaching children about the consequences of alcohol and to think before supplying minors with drink.

In the Southampton schools project, children learned about the dangers of "binge" drinking and how it effects their development.

It was run by alcohol education specialists, the TTC Group, to spread the message about the dangers of alcohol and how they should avoid drinking until they are 18.

TTC tutor Marion Cooper said: "A child in almost every session said they knew someone who had their stomach pumped and three quarters of the 11-year-olds had all tried alcohol."

Both the TTC course and Alcohol Concern report criticised the Government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy, published three years ago.