Despite rules restricting the sale of alcohol to people aged 18 and over, a group of eight 17-year-olds were able to buy 850 litres of beer, wine and spirits as part of a University of Twente experiment.

The teenagers bought the drink over a four-day period and were only refused in one in 10 attempts, the Telegraaf reports.

The sale of alcohol to the under-18s has been banned since January 2014. Shops which do sell beer and wine to younger teenagers can be fined and the teens themselves are committing an offence by being in possession of alcohol in public.

Mystery shopper experiments usually involve sending teenagers to buy a small amount of alcohol so that the purchase seems natural.

Twente researcher Joris van Hoof asked his guinea pigs to try and buy as much as they could carry, without using a shopping trolley and paid them a bonus for every litre they bought.

134 visits

In total, the team bought 580 litres of beer, 230 litres of wine and almost 40 litres of pre-mixed cocktails in 134 visits to supermarkets.

Van Hoof says he now has serious doubts about supermarkets’ assertions that they are keeping to the law.

Junior health minister Martin van Rijn told the Telegraaf he was shocked by the results and will carry out independent research.