UNDER-AGE youngsters who try to get into pubs and clubs face being 'red-carded' this Christmas.

Door staff will be targeting them in a bid to bring down the amount of booze-fuelled violence in Huddersfield.

But police will also be trying to catch out bar staff by sending under-age youngsters into pubs to see if they are served.

The simple message is: If you look young, make sure you have identification to prove your age or you won't get in.

Door staff will hand anyone under 18 trying to get into bars, pubs and clubs an under-age 'turned away' business card.

It will also be given to people if they look under age and do not have proper identification to prove otherwise, if they are too drunk or if they are behaving aggressively.

As part of the crackdown anyone who looks under 21 will need identification to be served anywhere in Kirklees.

Schools are being sent information packs warning pupils about the dangers of binge drinking, how it makes them more vulnerable to crime, that alcohol can change people by making them aggressive and violent and not to use false identification.

Clr Khizar Iqbal, chairman of Kirklees Safer Communities Partnership, said: "Under-age and binge drinking are a real concern and this raft of measures aims to keep young people safe."

The scheme is part of a wider campaign by the partnership to tackle alcohol-related violent crime.

The Kirklees Bar Code campaign is targeting 16 to 24-year-olds.

It aims to reduce woundings, common assault and domestic violence while increasing the reporting of incidents, as well as mobile telephone theft.

Over a third of violent crime in Kirklees happens between 9pm and 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.

Chief Insp Jon Carter, community safety co-ordinator for Kirklees, said: "Our message to under-age drinkers this Christmas is simple. Don't bother going to venues; you will be turned away.

"And if you look under 21 you'll need ID. If you've no ID you will not be served anywhere in Kirklees.

"Bar staff also need to be aware of their responsibilities. They need to think about the price they will pay if they are caught serving someone under age, which is a fixed penalty notice of £80. Meanwhile, their employer can end up in court.

"We'd also like to warn parents not to buy alcohol for their under-18s or let them out to any venues in Kirklees.

"Otherwise, they are making their children much more vulnerable to becoming victims of crime."