Bradford Council youth officers and members of the Bradford Community Safety Partnership will be warning young people about the dangers of excessive drinking today.

The event is being held at Culture Fusion in Thornton Road, Bradford, as part of Alcohol Awareness Week, a district-wide campaign aiming to raise awareness of alcohol-related harm and encourage sensible drinking.

During the week, Bradford Council will join forces with West Yorkshire Police, Trading Standards, West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and health agencies to highlight alcohol-related problems and encourage residents to drink sensibly.

Teenagers will learn to make non-alcoholic cocktails to show them healthy alternatives to alcohol and will navigate a small pedal car track while wearing ‘beer goggles’, special eyewear which simulates drunkenness.

Alcohol and drug officers and youth workers will chat about potential consequences of alcohol misuse and the young people will take part in an alcohol quiz to test their knowledge of alcohol-related harms.

Scans illustrating foetal alcohol syndrome will be shown and standard measures and alcohol units will be explained.

Police Community Safety Officers will talk about the consequences of getting involved in drink-related crime and anti-social behaviour and Trading Standards officers will warn them about the dangers of cheap counterfeit alcohol.

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue officers will show young people the dangers of chip fan fires, a problem which is often associated with heavy drinking.

Councillor Imran Hussain, deputy leader of Bradford Council, said: “While we aim to make events like this fun and engaging for young people, we are also putting across some very serious messages. This prevention work is important. Too many young people are harmed through alcohol misuse. Physical injuries, car accidents, unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases can all be consequences of drinking too much. There are also long-term health problems caused by drinking.

“If we can prevent just one of these consequences, it will be worthwhile.”