Liver problems put more than 100 drinkers in hospital a day

The number of admissions has tripled over the past ten years and the British Liver Trust blamed it in part on the 24- hour drinking culture.

Figures highlighted by the charity show that 39,180 people were admitted to hospital with liver disease last year in England alone.

This latest evidence of the effects of binge-drinking follows the release of statistics last week showing that 42 per cent of men and 38 per cent of women aged 16 to 24 consume more than the daily recommended amount of alcohol.

The charity said this put them at risk of developing liver disease in the next five to ten years.

Alison Rogers, chief executive of the trust, said: "Cheap and accessible booze coupled with the UK's 'any time, anywhere, any place' mentality is costingus all very dear, and far too many are literally paying with their lives.

"Every day four people an hour are being admitted to hospital due to alcoholic liver disease.

"The fact that alcohol-related admissions in England have doubled since 1995/6 should be a matter of great alarm. If it were road traffic deaths, there would be a public outcry."

She said the Government and drinks manufacturers must do more to inform consumers about the health risks of excess drinking.

Ministers have announced a voluntary agreement with the drinks industry that warnings will be placed on bottles and cans. But Mrs Rogers said this was not going far enough.

"Everyone has to take their share of responsibility," she said. "Individuals have to think more about their own consumption, but government should be pushing the drinks industry much harder, especially if it is relying on them to self-regulate."

She suggested the Government might be reluctant to take stronger action under pressure from the Treasury, which collects large amounts of revenue from sales of alcohol.

She added: "We saw with the tobacco industry that it took decades of pressure to overcome the reluctance of ministers to warn people properly about the dangers of smoking – how long must we wait for the alcohol messages to get through?"

Figures from the Information Centre for Health and Social Care, released last week, showed there were 187,640 alcohol-related hospital admissions in England in 2005/06 – up 14 per cent on the previous year, and double the figure a decade ago.

The number of deaths climbed from 4,307 to 6,570.