Alcohol-related illness in teens is up 15 per cent in wake of 24-hour drinking

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The number of teenagers receiving medical treatment after drinking binges has risen by nearly 15 per cent in the year the new 24-hour licensing laws were introduced.

The shock increase, recorded just months after the law changed, means hundreds more under-18s have suffered liver disease, blood poisoning and mental disorders - including depression and psychosis - as a result of alcohol.

It delivers a crushing blow to Labour's flagship legislation, which Ministers promised would bring about a revolution in the UK's drinking culture.

• Special report: Binge drinking Britain

Culture Minister Tessa Jowell insisted that longer opening hours would put an end to hurried bingeing and the violence at closing time when drinkers were all turfed out on to the streets simultaneously.

But the new figures - released by the Government in answer to a question in Parliament - give the lie to claims that staggered closing times would encourage a healthier, 'cafe culture' attitude.

From April 2005 to April 2006, teenagers were admitted to hospital for treatment 8,582 times, an increase of nearly 1,000 more than in the previous year. The figure, the first published following the introduction of the new laws in November 2005, is the biggest rise in a decade.

Doctors, horrified by the sudden increase, say it can only be explained by the longer opening hours.

Dr Christopher Record, consultant in liver disease at Newcastle NHS Trust, blames the constant availability of alcohol.

He said: 'There is no doubt that increased availability has led to more young people drinking. If you increase availability you increase consumption. The two go hand in hand.

'I'm sure the rise has been caused by 24-hour drinking legislation, when you can go into Asda and buy alcohol throughout the night.'

Dr Record was part of the Government consultation ahead of the new legislation. But he claims his pleas and those of other doctors who treat the results of binge drinking were ignored.

'The licensing laws were changed without any reference to what was happening in society,' he said.

'The Government wanted to introduce this Mediterranean cafe culture and it was complete pie in the sky.

'We are now drinking 50 per cent more alcohol than we did 30 years ago. But the Government doesn't take any notice. The alcohol lobby has tremendous influence.'

Sir Michael Marmot, a professor studying the effects of alcohol on society, said: 'This is a very worrying trend. UK teenagers are among the heaviest drinkers in Europe. The whole idea of encouraging a sensible drinking culture in this country simply isn't working.'

Studies by NHS statisticians at the Information Centre for Health and Social Care has shown that underage drinkers are more likely to buy alcohol to drink in secret than try to get served in a pub.

Yet more than half of the 3,000 extra-hours permits issued under the relaxed laws were given to corner shops, supermarkets and off-licences.

Campaigner Frank Soodeen, of charity Alcohol Concern, said: 'We have been monitoring hospital admissions due to drink among young people for some time and we have been concerned by the rising trend. But this figure is shocking.'

However, a spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: 'It is against the law to sell alcohol to under-18s and we have put in force much tougher penalties.

'You can now be fined up to £5,000 for selling to underage drinkers and the police and local authorities are not shy in using their powers.'

 

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