North and South drinking divide

Drinkers who live in the North of England are more likely to binge on alcohol and die younger than their southern counterparts, new research has shown. In the North East and North West 23 per cent of adults were binge drinkers, compared to less than 16 per cent in the South East and South West and the East of England. The research, by the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, is based on figures from 2004 to 2006. The average loss of life through drinking was 10 months for men and five for women across England but, in Blackpool, men could take 23 months off their life and women 13 months. That compares with just two to four months for men in the Isles of Scilly or East Dorset. The greatest volume of alcohol being consumed is beer, with nearly 124 litres drunk per person in the UK, according to 2004 figures by analysts Nielsen. Wine consumption is far less, at nearly 28 litres per person, followed by cider at less than 13 litres and spirits at less than 3 litres.