Nanny state targets middle-class drinkers in £10million anti-binge campaign

Middle class drinkers are to be bombarded with TV, radio and newspaper adverts warning them of the dangers of alcohol.

Ministers are stepping up their campaign against unhealthy boozing with a multi-million pound blitz on people who have a glass of two of wine at home at the end of the day.

The drive, launched today, is designed to alert middle-aged drinkers to the number of units of alcohol in each glass and leave them in no doubt that regularly exceeding recommended levels causes health problems.

The ads use everyday situations of people ordering in a pub or restaurant or relaxing at home. The name of their tipple, however, is replaced by the number of units it contains.

A request for a beer, for example, becomes a "pint of three units", while a bottle of white wine is described as "a chilled bottle of ten units".

The £6million message - part of the Know Your Limits campaign - will be driven home with a series of newspaper and magazine ads.

"We are not saying don't drink," public health minister Dawn Primarolo insisted last night. "I enjoy a glass of wine myself.

"It is not saying don't, it's saying here's the information and think about it. It is presented in a nonjudgmental, directly identifiable environment."

The recommended weekly alcohol limit is 14 units for women and 21 for men. A unit is equal to half a pint of weak beer or a 25ml shot of spirits.

Alongside the launch of the campaign, a YouGov poll for the Department of Health suggests that many moderate drinkers are unaware of the high levels of alcocernhol in some drinks because measures are getting larger and beers and wines are getting stronger.

Many bars now serve wine in 250ml glasses, the equivalent of a third of a bottle, and lagers and beers are now often around 5 per cent proof.

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Miss Primarolo was fiercely criticised last year for saying bingedrinking was a middle- class problem and that couples drinking at home were a greater conhow-than young people spilling out of bars.

She said last night that the new campaign was aimed at the over-35s, adding: "Alcohol isn't just an issue for young people who binge drink because regularly exceeding our limits will have consequences for our health.

"These people do not consider themselves binge-drinkers, they are not on the town on Saturday night, but there's still an issue on much alcohol they drink."

A record 210,000 people were taken to hospital with alcohol-related illnesses last year, while 5,500 deaths - 2,000 of them women - were blamed on drink in 2006.

The campaign is backed by doctors, health charities and organisations which promote sensible drinking.

Professor Steve Field of the Royal College of General Practitioners said: "When it comes to alcohol, GPs are used to hearing half-truths about half-measures. People need to have a better grasp of how much they drink."

But Tory spokesman Mike Penning said: "They should be targeting binge-drinkers, underage drinkers and those with alcohol problems rather than the soft target that is the middle classes."

Next month another series of adverts will warn of dangers from excessive drinking such as high blood pressure, weight gain and problems in pregnancy.

In one, a pair of large empty wine glasses, resembling breasts, are used to remind women of the link between excess alcohol and breast cancer.