The number of London schoolchildren needing medical treatment after bingedrinking is soaring, figures show today.

The statistics show an 83 per cent rise in alcohol-related hospital admissions for under-18s in the past seven years - the biggest rise in the country.

The Tories and Liberal Democrats attacked the Government for failing to act over a "dangerously escalating public health crisis".

Research by the Lib-Dems shows that there were 658 cases of children being admitted to London hospitals after binge-drinking between 2006 and 2007.

Rates across the south-west of the country are also increasing at an alarming rate, with an 80 per cent increase in alcohol-related admissions since 2000/2001.

Across the whole country, admission rates rose by 35 per cent, with the North-West recording the highest number of individual cases, at 2,024 in 2006/2007.

Experts today warned that the actual number of children binge-drinking could be even higher, with only the most serious cases included in the statistics. Shadow health secretary Norman Lamb said: "The figures do not show the number of children who were treated in A&E but not admitted to hospital, so they are just the tip of the iceberg.

"Gordon Brown talks about health prevention being important, yet what is he doing to tackle the shocking rise in binge-drinking among our young people? This is a dangerously escalating public health crisis.

"The overall numbers mask alarming regional differences. We need to look at the damage that alcohol is doing to our children and find out why the number of children drinking so much that they end up in hospital is so much higher in some parts of the country."

He added: "As well as being illegal, it is grossly irresponsible for pubs and shops to sell alcohol to under-age people.

"Existing laws in this area need to be enforced and we must also look at the sale of cheap alcohol in supermarkets, which just contributes to the problem."

Frank Soodeen from Alcohol Concern said: "Kids who drink are now drinking more than twice as much as they did 20 years ago and it's vital that we start investing more on services across London to help them address some of the reasons behind their drinking.

"Among a certain type of teenager it is not just about having fun any more, it has become substance misuse.

"We blame the fact that alcohol is so cheap and easily available, that's why it becomes their drug of choice."

A spokesman for Action on Addiction said: "Excessive drinking is particularly dangerous for adolescents. Research has suggested that drinking may seriously harm the development of the nervous and reproductive systems."

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