The pressure group Alcohol Concern has claimed new strawberry and banana flavour alcoholic milk drinks will add to the under-age drinking problem.

Oxfordshire company En-Toute-Caisse is marketing Moo - described as an alcoholic dairy cooler - in strawberry and banana flavours.

Alcohol Concern spokesman Mark Bennett said: ''It beggars belief. Milk is a healthy drink you associate with pouring on cornflakes and we are extremely concerned about this.''

The firm also plans chocolate and ice coffee versions of the 340ml bottles which retail at about #2.20p each. They are currently only available in 12 pubs in Oxfordshire, but could soon be on sale throughout Britain.

Alcohol Concern fears the new drink could prove even more popular with younger teenagers and children than the fruit flavoured alcoholic drinks known as alcopops.

However, En-Toute-Caisse said it had abided by the drinks' industry's self-imposed code to make sure alcohol is marketed responsibly.

En-Toute-Caisse's financial director, Mr Paul Heijink, said the word ''alcoholic'' appeared three times on Moo's label, which also stated clearly that the drink was not to be consumed by under-18s.

He said the company hoped to emulate soaring sales in Australia, where Moo was launched eight months ago.

Alcohol Concern said the drinks, which are more alcoholic than the average pint of bitter at 5% by volume, were aimed specifically at children.

Mr Heijink denied this, but admitted they could appeal to children - ''like beer, cider or any other drink''.

''It has taken us three months to design the label. It's a fairly bland label with no cartoon characters on it. We took every measure possible to make sure it doesn't appeal to children,'' he said.

Mr Heijink added: ''We definitely plan to extend the sales nationwide. At the moment it will be sold through pubs and clubs, but maybe in the future it will be sold through the off-trade.''

But Mr Bennett said: ''I understand that alcoholic milk coolers are only available in pubs at the moment, but I am sure they will end up in off-licences and supermarkets.''

''The very nature of the drink rather than anything to do with packaging is cause for concern. These are alcoholic milk shakes - it's wholly irresponsible and really quite shocking.''

''I suspect milk will appeal to even younger children than alcopops. Milk is a healthy non-alcoholic drink. To spike milk shakes - which are a drink for children - with alcohol will inevitably lead to even more under-age drinking,'' said Mr Bennett.

But Mr Nick Tegerdine, executive director of the Nottingham-based Alcohol Problems Advisory Service, said he had recently encountered a 15-year-old boy who drank 75 pints of lager each week, and said he was not a ''one-off'''.

''Milk shakes are a kids' drink and mixing them with alcohol is an unashamed attempt to market drink towards young people,'' he said.

''We are seeing more and more young people turning up at hospital completely out of it - alcoholic milk can only make the situation worse.''

Shadow consumer affairs minister Nigel Griffiths said: ''We know there is a national problem of under-age drinking.

''That is damaging the health of our young people and causing real problems on our streets.

''What a cynical and sinister development this is - it's a way of making strong alcohol easier to drink for younger children.''

However, Mr Trevan Beadle, landlord of the Mason's Arms, Swerford, Oxfordshire, said Moo had gone down well with his customers.

''Nobody drinks it in here unless they are over 18. At the end of the day it's not a child's drink, it's an adult's drink,'' he claimed.

The British Medical Association said it was deeply disturbed at the ease with which young children could gain access to alcohol, and the amount they drank.

''A recent study in the British Medical Journal showed that consumption of 'alcopops', which appeal particularly to a younger market, was linked to heavier drinking and greater drunkenness among 14-16 year-olds,'' said Dr Bill O'Neill, the BMA's Ethics, Science and Research Advisor.