Almost 70% of teenagers can still buy alcohol in a bar and one-third of them use borrowed or fake id card to do so, according to a poll of 3,000 youngsters on website scholieren.com.

The poll was carried out on behalf of Nos television and focused on 15,16 and 17-year-olds. The legal drinking age was raised from 16 to 18 on January 1.

11% of those who can still buy alcohol use a fake id card. These are often made by the pupil themselves, using school printers and scanners.

Junior health minister Martijn van Rijn called on bars and shops to increase their checks on young would-be drinkers. The new law means a new social standard, he said. ‘You do not drink or smoke before the age of 18,’ the minister told Nos television.