The government is to encourage the homeless to police street drinkers under the age of 18.

The homeless will be allowed to keep any alcohol they discover on the under 18's and will be allowed to give them a reasonable 'roughing up' to get it.

Initially 15,000 Big Issue sellers will be recruited to patrol the streets at night.

If a drinker under the age of 18 can't provide id when challenged by a homeless person, then they will lose any alcohol that they have.

A government spokesman told this newspaper: "We don't want to overburden the pissy police with this new initiative, and we want to help the homeless. Everyone's a winner."