TWO supermarkets were caught selling alcohol illegally to two teenage boys, police have revealed.

The boys, aged 15 and 16, were sent into the Asda store in St Mary's Way, Rawtenstall, and Lidl, in Bacup Road, last Friday.

Staff at Premier Stores, in Newchurch Road, Stacksteads, and Rossendale Service Station, in Bacup Road, Waterfoot, also failed the crackdown on underage sales.

Earlier this month, eight pubs in Rossendale were found selling booze to two teenage girls.

PS Michelle Dixon said: “We will not stop our test purchases because stores and off-licences need to understand the consequences of selling alcohol to underage drinkers.

“Managers need to train their staff on how to follow the Challenge 21 and Challenge 25 initiatives which have even been implemented in some of the stores that failed the test purchase.

“Some staff members do not have the confidence to ID a shopper but that has to change.

"We will be taking this further and fixed penalties will be issued – we will get the message through.”

Managers from the four stores which failed the test purchase will be interviewed at the police station in the coming weeks where they will be fined.

Police said the Top Shop, in Burnley Road, Weir, Bargain Booze, in Newchurch Road, Stacksteads, and Market Street Service Station, in Bacup, all passed the exercise.

An Asda spokeswoman said: "We take our responsibility very seriously and our colleagues at Rawtenstall store are currently being retrained and rebriefed to ensure we don't go wrong again.”

"Asda were the first retailer to introduce Challenge 25 across all of our stores in 2008, and our commitment to this is as true today as it was then."