It is safe to drink alcohol over the recommended limit, says health adviser

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Retired GP Richard Taylor said: "Although I would still endorse the old Government limits, I would add the rider that if you step outside them within reason, it will not do you any harm."

His advice came after a member of the Royal College of Physicians working party - which set the limits 20 years ago - said they were "not based on very much scientific evidence".

Are drink limits just another example of the Nanny State? Have your say in readers' comments below...

The recommended weekly drinking limits are 21 units of alcohol for men and 14 for women. A half pint of beer is one unit, a glass of wine is one-and-a-half.

Subsequent studies found that moderate drinkers had low mortality rates, while a man drinking even 63 units a week had the same risk of death as a teetotaller.

Dr Taylor, MP for Wyre Forest, Worcestershire, said he did not think those exceeding the units "would be banging a nail in their coffin", adding: "If driving I would say one drink only and I am not advocating binge-drinking."