Concerns have been expressed about binge-drinking. Reporter ALEX LLOYD examines the nightlife in York.

IT'S 10.45pm and third-year biology student Lucy McIvor, 21, is totting up what she has had to drink so far.

She is out with a big group of friends at Bedroom, in Micklegate, celebrating after an exam, and is a little unsteady on her feet.

Lucy and a friend began the evening by sharing a pitcher of vodka and Red Bull, followed by a bottle of red wine and some Belgian beers. She's now downing "some horrible vodka thing".

Even if it is horrible, it won't have cost much, as all drinks are no more than £1.85 tonight, and there's an extensive list of beers, spirits, liqueurs, shots, alcopops and wines to choose from.

Lucy tells me she goes out drinking once, maybe twice, a week because she needs "a release from the pressure of studying".

She said: "I think women should drink as much as the men. I don't really know any women who get rowdy."

The doorman has a different story. In the past women would break up fights, he said. Now they egg on the men.

It was not hard to see how they lost control. Anyone would be hard pushed to keep track of exactly how much they have drunk with the array of offers available.

At Wetherspoons, a cocktail pitcher is £4.99 between 4pm and 8pm. Rumours has vodka and Red Bull for £2, with a double £2.50 and a treble £3, drawing huge groups of lads and girls. At The Bay Horse, renowned for its "trebles for singles" promotion, there is a queue to get in by 9.30pm, and this is a week night.

In fact, it seems that in every bar we visit, the staff suggest "going large" for an extra 50p or so, just like in McDonalds. How could you possibly refuse?

In Ziggys nightclub, bottles of an orange vodka drink cost £1.40 - the same as a bottle of water.

Clubber Kate, 21, was surprisingly lucid despite drinking "eight vodkas, three bottles and another couple of things". She had no idea how many units that amounted to.

Kate goes out three to four times a week and she admitted she had done "silly things" when drunk, but "never anything that bad".

She felt that the Government's assessment that six or more units in one night is a "binge" was unfair.

"It depends on your build and also what you are drinking. I think people do more damage when they mix."

The men I chatted to seemed to have little problem with women drinking. Jason Gabb, 20, thought their drinking habits were different, though.

"Women are bigger binge drinkers than men. Men tend to drink a little bit every night of the week," he said.

"I'm originally from down south and I find York pretty tame."

James, also 20, said his female friends tended to favour alcopops and spirits.

"They try to keep up with you, but they can't. I like women drinking though. It's easier to get them into bed."

It's nearing 2am and as I take a taxi home, I see gaggles of bedraggled men and women, kebabs and burgers in hand, staggering home. One girl is walking alone past the Barbican, high-heeled shoes in hand.

Other than a trail of vomit along Micklegate, the odd snogging couple and a few lads disappearing up alleyways to relieve themselves, the night seems to have passed without incident.

But I have no doubt they will all have sore heads in the morning.

Updated: 10:36 Friday, March 19, 2004