The girls of 11 who drink 'a bottle of wine a week'

The study shows that female drinkers aged 11 to 13 consume an average of eight units a week, equivalent to four large glasses of wine - more than a bottle. This is 83 per cent more than they were drinking in 2000.

Male drinkers of the same age consume an average of 12 units a week, or six pints of beer. This is a rise of 43 per cent in the same period.

Frank Soodeen, of the charity Alcohol Concern, said: 'We are sleepwalking into a public health crisis if young people drink from an earlier age and start to drink more.

'The problem clearly starts from a very young age and we need to start focusing on these children. Otherwise we will see more and more older children sprawled on street corners.'

It is possible that some of the 8,000 children surveyed by Alcohol Concern may have overstated their alcohol consumption to impress.

Mr Soodeen said increased alcohol consumption impacts on school performance - and drinking is the cause of 14 per cent of school exclusions.

The charity warns that alcohol caused a rise of 20 per cent in the number of children admitted to hospital between 1999 and 2005, when there were 7,500 juvenile alcohol-related admissions a year.

Alcohol dependency may now affect up to 15 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds - with brain damage a real possibility, it added.

Mr Soodeen also referred to a study conducted last year showing that 29 per cent of under-18s could buy alcohol in pubs and 21 per cent in off-licenses.

'It is shocking that nearly one in three underage people are able to buy alcohol in pubs,' he said. 'We need to start being more punitive with those premises that are selling alcohol like this.

'Alcohol-related harm is a much greater problem than drug-related harm and yet the Government pumps more resources into drugs. We need to rebalance our spending.'

The charity said that the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy, launched by ministers in 2004, had failed to make a significant impact on binge-drinking among the young.

Research from 2006, quoted in the report, found that there was a small decrease in the number of youngsters who had drank alcohol in the past week.

But those who did drink consumed far more than they did in 2000. The largest rise was among 11 to 13-year-olds.

The report concluded: 'These are startling results for a strategy which aimed to raise awareness about alcohol misuse among young people.

'The lack of targets or focus within the strategy to reduce young people's drinking has resulted in continued increases in consumption among 11 to 15-year-olds and ongoing issues with teenage pregnancies.

'Eleven to 13-year-olds in particular are drinking more than in previous years.'

The charity says the rise in the amount that pre-teens are drinking will, in many cases, lead to alcoholism.

Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: 'It is deeply worrying that binge drinking is so common in young teens.

'The Government has failed to deliver the message to teenagers that alcohol is bad for their health.'

But public health minister Caroline Flint said: 'The Government is serious about tackling alcohol-related harm and excessive consumption. Recent data shows that levels of binge drinking are no longer rising.

'Our current Know Your Limits campaign, while focusing on the 18 to 24 age group, can also inform younger age groups of the potential harms of alcohol misuse and influence their future drinking habits.'