The number of young people in Sussex being slapped with fines for drunken behaviour has rocketed by 60% in just three years.

Figures released by the Home Office reveal more than 900 fixed penalty notices were issued to people under 26 for crimes like drunk and disorderly behaviour in the county in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available.

Of those, 79 were given to under 18s.

In comparison, only 566 penalty notices were handed out to those under 26 for the same crimes in 2004.

Records also reveal, however, that the number of youngsters convicted in courts for drunken crimes in the county fell over the same period, from 187 to 156.

Nationally, the number of young people fined for drunken behaviour almost doubled from 15,336 to 28,215 between 2004 and 2007, while the number convicted in court of the same offences fell from 9,571 to 7,406 over the same period.

MPs are now calling for a ban on cheap alcohol to tackle binge drinking.

A motion signed by 12 MPs says Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson’s proposal for a “minimum price” for units of alcohol would be one way of ending the deep discounting and loss-leading sales of booze, which contributes to excessive drinking.

Dr Donaldson said earlier this year that each unit of alcohol should be sold for no less than 50p, taking the price of an average six pack of lager to £6.

But the proposal was rejected by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who said the Government did not want to penalise the vast majority of sensible drinkers.

However, the Parliamentary early day motion argues that the cheaper the alcohol, the more of it people drink, and notes the “damage caused by alcohol misuse to individuals, families and society” - costing the UK economy up to £25bn a year, including alcohol-related health and crime costs.

It says 80% of people think more should be done to tackle alcohol abuse in society and calls on Government to “make careful consideration” of calls to impose a minimum price of alcohol as a means of ending the supply of cut-price booze.