Almost one in 10 children aged between 10 and 15 have admitted getting drunk, new figures have revealed.

The London Assembly's health and public services committee report showed the extent of boozy kids in Croydon and across the capital.

A survey of 10 to 15 year olds, conducted in spring last year, saw 9 per cent of respondents say they had got drunk in the last month.

Neighbouring Sutton had 14 per cent of respondents confessing to drunken antics, while Richmond scored the highest in London with 18 per cent.

The figures also showed on average 36 per 100,000 under-18s in Croydon had been admitted to hospital for alcohol-related illnesses between 2004/05 and 2006/07.

The statistics, compiled by the North West Public Health Observatory, show Croydon was below the London average of 23 but higher than Brent, the London borough with the nearest population, which saw an average of 23, although accident and emergency admissions were not included.

And in another set of figures, there were 35 arrests of 16 to 21 year olds for alcohol related incidents in 2007 in Croydon.

This compared favourably to Brent, which had 55 arrests, while the highest was in Sutton where 82 people were arrested, but the figures did not include under-16s.

The news comes as Croydon announced its community alcohol partnership, the first London borough to do so.

It will focus on a shopping area in New Addington, and is aimed at cutting incidents of underage alcohol sales and street drinking.

The launch of the initiative is set for July and follows the release of the London Assembly's health and public services committee report.

Councillor Gavin Barwell, cabinet member for community safety and cohesion, said: “I am pleased to announce this new initiative by Croydon Council and its partners.

“To reduce underage drinking, we need to work together with those who sell alcohol to better understand the problems they face and try to deal with them.

“The knock-on effects of binge drinking to individuals and local communities can be severe and together we can bring about a change in attitudes and behaviour.”

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