and clubs, an alcohol campaigner said yesterday.

Transport Control Department (TCD) is being duped into issuing replacement driving licences to underage youths for cards which were never lost, claimed Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (CADA) acting executive director Cathy Belvedere.

And she said computer whizzkids are making bogus IDs which they are selling for $25.

Another scam involves boarding school students returning from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with fake IDs they have ordered for friends, she claimed.

Mrs. Belvedere told The Royal Gazette : "We had a volunteer with us who said kids are making false IDs on computers and selling them for $25. Most kids have that in their pockets, so it makes it easy.'' She said she had not seen the computerised fake ID but was trying to re-contact the CADA volunteer to get more information.

Mrs. Belvedere said teenagers were reporting to TCD that the licences of friends or relatives had been lost and are getting a replacement by providing their own photographs.

Mrs. Belvedere said her organisation will be writing to TCD telling them about the scam while Road Safety Officer Roxanne Christopher is to alert Transport Minister Ewart Brown about the problem.

She said: "It's scary. These kids are really resourceful and if kids want to do something they will find a way.

"I know of someone who was 14 and brought a whole bunch of them back from boarding school abroad for her and her friends.

"Her brother found out and told my younger boy and I called her mother. She didn't have a clue what was going on.

"The parents have to be responsible and check up on their kids because the more they know, the more they will be secure when their kids are going out.'' Mrs. Belvedere said nightclubs and restaurants division of the Chamber of Commerce only became aware of the problem when it was mentioned at its meeting last month.

She said: "If bars take a licence as ID they are going to take it as valid because they are not going to know it is fake because they look like the guy presenting it. They can't be held responsible for that.

"We are going to be writing a letter to TCD making them aware of it and to formally tell the Police to see if something can be done.'' Mrs. Belvedere said Police are aware of it and consider it to be a summer problem.

Jay Correia, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce's nightclubs and restaurants division, said the issue of fake TCD licences had been mentioned twice at Chamber meetings and that Police had confirmed their awareness of them.

teenagers were going to the Registry Office for birth certificates which were being issued allegedly without any checking, allowing the youths to use them at TCD.

Mr. Correia, the owner of The Swizzle Inn, added: "In my own bar, we've been inundated with these college IDs. About 50 percent of them are from places you've never heard of and I don't think they are real.'' Last night a Police spokesman was unable to contact the appropriate officer for comment.

Mrs. Belvedere added that young hooligans are threatening doormen with violence if they don't allow them into clubs.

She said: "You get quite a lot of violence occurring when you get a lot of underage kids getting into places and no one is carding because it's not the rule.

"They are getting a lot of young punks, 14 or 15 year olds, coming up to them and saying `I am underage but you will let me in -- if you don't I've got a knife in my pocket'.

"There are cases where young people are trying to get access in any way possible. With the false IDs, they are actually getting in.'' Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said last night: "It would be premature to comment. Let's see what Roxanne finds out as to how significant this is.

"If it has happened once or twice it is a management problem, but if it is rampant it is a more urgent issue because that means we have underage people driving and using the ID otherwise.'' TRANSPORTATION TRA