Counting the Cost

A MILLION Englishmen and nearly 200,000 women admit to getting drunk at least once a week in a study carried out by Health Education Authority.

It found that almost 30 per cent of adults regard getting drunk as "part of the English way of life".

The survey last year found people aged 16 to 24 were most likely to "binge drink", a trend blamed on the relaxation of licensing laws, the launch of youth-friendly alcopops and the rise in high-strength brands.

There are around 33,000 alcohol-related deaths in the UK every year. Alcohol is involved in 39 per cent of deaths in fires and 15 per cent of road deaths.