Lifestyle: Students to get drinking lesson

The drinks industry watchdog is planning to target students in a new campaign to encourage "sensible drinking".

The Portman Group is teaming up with the National Union of Students to reinforce messages about safe drinking levels. The campaign, to be launched next month, will focus on raising awareness of how many units of alcohol different drinks contain and on government guidelines for sticking to 21 units a week for women and 28 for men.

The new initiative comes as three more drinks companies join the group, which is funded by the industry to promote sensible drinking.

Bacardi-Martini, HP Bulmer and Campbell Distillers and Pernod Ricard join the industry's largest companies Allied Domecq, Bass, Diageo, Scottish & Newcastle, Seagram and Whitbread. It means the group now represents 95 per cent of the industry.

Group director Jean Coussins said the increased membership was a vote of confidence in its policies and would add weight to new initiatives.