15-year-olds who drink a bottle of wine a week

Nineteen per cent admitted getting through that much, while in some parts of the country one in eight 12-year-olds is drinking this heavily, the Governmentcommissioned study found.

Binge drinking is also to blame for more than 4,300 teenage pregnancies, 11,500 expulsions and suspensions from school and 5.5million lost days of schooling each year.

The authoritative report, compiled by the centre of public health at Liverpool John Moores University, is the latest to chronicle the devastating effect of alcohol on the lives of schoolchildren.

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Previous studies have shown that 15 boys and girls under the age of 16 drink themselves into A&E wards every day, with some downing more than a bottle of vodka in a single session, and that drink-fuelled British girls are among the most violent in the western world.

Doctors have warned that youngsters as young as 12 are being diagnosed as alcoholics and that cirrhosis of the liver - an alcohol-induced problem usually found in older adults - is being diagnosed in teenagers.

The 150-page report also details the toll of alcohol on health, hospitals and quality of life.

Alcohol addiction is responsible for more than 500,000 hospital admissions each year.

Drunkenness is to blame for more than 500,000 crimes each year, from violent brawls to robberies and sexual assaults.

More than a million men drink more than 50 units of alcohol a week. With a bottle of wine containing nine units, this is equivalent to almost six bottles or two bottles of spirits.

In 2005, Britons drank a staggering 6.5billion litres of alcohol at an overall cost to the economy of £20billion.

Professor Mark Bellis, the lead author of the annual report Indications of Public Health in the English Regions, said the figures "catalogue the real price we are paying for cheap alcohol and a culture where drinking to excess is not only tolerated but often encouraged".

He continued: "The effects of alcohol are not just related to health and health services. The influence of alcohol on individuals in turn affects the population as a whole through loss of employment, economic capacity and community cohesion."

Dr Ruth Hussey, regional director of public health in the North-West, said: "Far more action is needed to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. This is a wake-up call for all of us."

Sir Liam Donaldson, England's chief medical officer, said: "Alcohol misuse has become a major problem in England that contributes greatly to ill-health and inequalities across the regions.

"I welcome the report and hope it will encourage public health leaders to find innovative and creative ways to reduce the impact of harmful drinking."