Psychiatrist warns of rise of 'Saga lout' - the problem drinking pensioner

But according to a leading psychiatrist, a generation of baby boomers is refusing to grow old gracefully and is rediscovering the hedonistic follies of youth.

The arrival of the Saga Lout - the elderly binge drinker - has been identified by Dr Peter Rice, an expert in alcohol abuse, who says drink problems in the over 65s are on the increase.

He has seen a significant rise in the number of older people being treated in hospital for a range of serious drink-related disorders over the last few years.

The typical Saga Lout is retired, developed a taste for drinking at home in the 1960s and 1970s and now has enough spare income to splash out on their favourite tipple every night.

Unlike their more youthful counterparts rampaging through city centres on Friday and Saturday nights, the Saga Lout drinks quietly, but steadily, in the privacy of their own home.

"Older people's drinking has not had the same public awareness as young people's drinking," said Dr Rice, a consultant psychiatrist at Sunnyside Royal Hospital, Montrose.

"The trend in young people seems to be improving slightly, but in older people the numbers being admitted to hospital with alcohol related illnesses are increasing.

"This is just the tip of one big iceberg and the situation seems to be worsening. The term I have used to capture the issue is Saga Louts".

Saga Louts began drinking regularly 30 years ago when the price of wine, beer and spirits fell and when drinking in the home grew more socially acceptable.

Now that these regular home drinkers are retired, they have the time and spare cash to drink more than ever before, Dr Rice believes.

Cut price alcohol from supermarkets is fuelling the trend. Many are actually increasing their drinking between the ages of 60 and 65, he said.

"It should be stressed that the Saga Louts are not behaving in a particularly disruptive or anti-social way," he added. "This is a silent phenomenon happening in the home, but it because of the health implications it is also a serious one.

"But although alcohol consumption falls with age, older people are drinking more than previous generations did." Because people become less tolerant to alcohol as they get older, the Saga Louts could be putting themselves at greater risk than younger heavy drinkers.

The Saga Louts are risking liver disease and cancer by drinking more than the recommended 21 units for men and 14 units for women a week, he said. They are particularly vulnerable to alcohol-induced memory problems and dementia.

According to Alcohol Concern, more than one million over 65 year olds are drinking at unsafe levels - a 75 per cent rise in women and a 31 per cent rise in men since the early 1990s.

"Sensible drinking is advisable at any age, but we are concerned that efforts to reduce drinking have only targeted younger people while the number of older drinkers has risen.," said a spokesman for the charity.

"Steps are needed to help older drinkers, especially men."