In an undercover mission, police cadets aged under-18 tested off-licences by picking up cider, bottles of rum or asking for cigarettes. Reporter Jess Ward joined their operation to see if staff members would request the underage drinkers’ IDs.

Beneath their determined expressions, there was a low-lying buzz of nerves and excitement from the 13 young police cadets who eagerly listened to their instructions during their briefing at the police headquarters in Douglas.

It was made clear by community police officer, Mike Griffiths, that they would go up to counters with alcohol or knives or ask for a packet of cigarettes and wait to see if members of staff stuck to the under-25 policy by requesting identification.

After the right or wrong response from cashiers, the cadets would calmly walk out and let accompanying adults - ex cadet Jamie Barrow, Jackie Roberts, Andy Sweetman and Richard Lloyd who were ’browsing’ nearby - step into action.

’We’re not going in to try and trip anyone up. It’s not entrapment, but it’s for educational purposes,’ PC Griffiths told the group.

’We will take their names and raise the issue with their management to flag it as training for the next day.’

Last year the Isle of Man Volunteer Police Youth Scheme members had four instances where they were not asked for ID.

Separating the cadets into three groups, they were sent down south, to Laxey and Onchan or into to Douglas shops.

I hopped into a police van with five cadets and three adults.

We pulled up at a corner shop in Douglas. Sixteen year-old Erin Kelly got out and disappeared into the shop with an adult not far behind.

We waited patiently in the van and she returned shaking her head. It was a success! She was asked for her ID after trying to purchase a can of gin and a bag of crisps.

Ellen Lewin, 16, is next. We stopped at a filling station and, like last time, she went into the store before coming out and shaking her head.

Moving on, we rolled up to another corner shop and I followed Joe Locke, 16, into the shop with an adult. We kept a conversation going while Joe reached for a small bottle of Bacardi and some ’Caramel Nibbles’ and placed them at the counter. He’s questioned and that’s when he turns and leaves.

’Well done, you’ve passed!’ one of the adults tells the server, before explaining the cadets’ operation. Her name is taken for the police to later contact the shop manager to praise the woman’s response.

Cadet Rhonda Whittaker then made her way into a popular shop and placed a packet of crisps and a can of gin on the counter. She’s asked for some identification right away.

We got back into the van and voices are heard over the police radio announcing that one of the cadets in a different group had been ’served’.

We move location and Sophie Macdonald, 17, steps out. Us adults followed in after. Flashing a smile at the cashier on her way to the counter with a four pack of dark fruit cider and some toilet roll, she was told: ’That’ll be £9 please.’

Sophie walked out leaving the cashier looking completely puzzled. We swooped in, and when the reality is revealed, the woman crumbled.

The adults explained that her management will be contacted, but she is told it is only a warning and that it will be down to management to educate their staff better.

Rhonda told her fellow cadets in the van that she was ’shaking’ while carrying out the operation.

We’re driven to the other side of Douglas and Erin gets out again. I followed close behind with Richard, a retired police officer. Keeping close to the till, we heard the server ask Erin for the amount rather than for her ID for two tins of gin.

Richard was ’waiting in line’ and when Erin left the cashier asked him: ’Oh, are you paying?’ He assured her that he is not. Erin later told me: ’I’m one of the youngest of the cadets and they served me, so who else are they going to serve? It’s worrying to think about.’

We took on one more off-licence and Sophie and Rhonda walked in with us following. Their mission ended on a high with them being asked for ID.

Clearly the man behind the counter was used to youngsters walking out when asked for their identification, as he huffed to himself while putting the four-pack of dark fruits and, again, some toilet paper away.

The accompanying adults asked: ’Why did you ID her?’ The cashier says: ’She looked pretty young.’

We re-grouped at police headquarters and the cadets swapped their stories of the night. Robert Griffiths, 16, one of the tallest of the cadets, wasn’t asked for ID when pretending to buy Carlsberg in Onchan.

Danni Betteridge went into a filling station and asked for a 20-pack of Lambert & Butler Silver cigarettes.

’The guy asked: "Do you have your ID?". I pretended to search my pockets and he then said: "Do you know what, you’re borderline.",’ she told me.

’Mike was right behind me and I walked off.’

She added that their efforts are ’really important’. ’Robert was saying how high the underage drug and drinking levels are here in the island,’ she said. She believes it’s ’worrying’.

PC Mike said the operation was ’a failure and a success’.

’This is not the first time we have ran this event and it was fantastic to see those that have previously failed have turned things around and passed this time.’

He said the police work closely with partners in the alcohol trade and reiterated that these evenings are not about prosecution, but identifying where things ’maybe need a bit of a polish’.

â?¢PC Mike updated the cadets on their trek through The Freedom Trail in the Pyrenees in July.

They will be paying tribute to an R.T Furley - a Manx engineer who was onboard a bomber plane that crashed into the slope of Lampaou Peak during the First World War.