Morrisons is leading the way when it comes to preventing underage alcohol sales, according to figures released by independent test purchase service Serve Legal.

The retailer outperformed the supermarket sector by five percentage points in terms of pass rates achieved in mystery shopper visits last year. Its pass rate of 87% compares with 76% in 2010 when it trailed the supermarket sector by 2%.

Morrisons claimed its performance was a result of a “want to improve” attitude. Testing was part of a programme of proactive sales improvement activities that included more regular staff training and effective use of Challenge 25 PoS, said trading standards and compliance manager James Brodhurst-Brown.