Under-age drinking linked to number of off-licences

One in 10 under-18s who end up in hospital after drinking to excess are there because there are so many off-licences from where they manage to get alcohol, according to a new study released tomorrow by Alcohol Concern. It warns: "Nearly 10 per cent of all alcohol-specific hospital admissions for under-18s in England, excluding London, are directly attributable to off-licence density."

Between 2006 and 2009, 19,367 young people under the age of 18 needed hospital treatment for alcohol-specific conditions such as liver damage or alcohol poisoning. More than 1,900 of those admissions could be directly attributable solely to the density of off-licensed premises, claim researchers.

The study found that for every two off-licences there was one person under 18 per 100,000 of population being admitted to hospital due to drinking.