Glass of 2003

THE Radio 5 Live team who compared York to Faliraki weren't very flattering. But anybody who's been anywhere near the Micklegate Run on a Friday or Saturday night, or who has ventured out in the city centre on a race day evening, would be forced to concede there is a grain of truth in the comparison.

York GP Sarah Bottom admits she sometimes feels embarrassed to be British. "It is humiliating to see people reeling around dead drunk on a Friday or Saturday night," she says. "It is awful: a national embarrassment and humiliation.

"If you're in France, you can go for a stroll in the city centre at night without bumping into loads of drunken, leering, yelling people. But you can see some hideous sights in York on a race night."

It is not just York, of course. A recent Government report revealed Britons were the biggest drinkers in Europe, with a national culture of binge drinking - where people go out and down large quantities of booze with the aim of getting drunk.

Four out of ten men and 22 per cent of women binge drink, the report found.

The social and individual costs are huge. At least £20 billion a year is lost to the economy through drink-related illness and hangovers, the Government estimates. And figures from Alcohol Concern reveal that more than 5,000 people in England and Wales die directly as a result of alcohol every year - while drink is implicated in a further 33,000 deaths.

One in six people going to casualty have alcohol-related injuries - rising to eight out of ten at peak times.

Alison Tubbs of York Alcohol Advice Service says things are getting worse. "Our referrals are growing steadily," she says. "We are getting a lot more binge drinkers, and we're getting a lot more women. It seems to be more acceptable for women to drink pints or doubles now."

Alcohol isn't all bad. "People drink because they enjoy it," Alison says. "It lowers inhibitions, it gives confidence. We use it to commiserate and to celebrate. It has its place."

But too many people now have the wrong relationship with drink, Dr Bottom says. "We should learn to enjoy alcohol, not punish ourselves with it."

Young people tend to feel they are immortal, she says, and that they can get away with abusing alcohol.

They can't. In the long term, they will be storing up all kinds of health problems, from high blood pressure, hardened arteries and the risk of heart attack or stroke, to liver damage, depression and insomnia.

And even in the short term, binge drinking can also be harmful. Young men might think they're going out on the pull - but if they get drunk too often, it could have the opposite effect. "Heavy drinkers snore, they get brewer's droop and they smell," Dr Bottom says.

"I can't think of three things more likely to turn off a bird!"

To get a feel for the drinking habits of York, we got three people to keep an alcohol diary for a week - then asked Dr Bottom to comment.

Case histories

Ange Cheyne, 22, York University graduate now working as Students Union education and welfare officer.

Tuesday Sept 23: two glasses of red wine during meal with friends

Wednesday: half pint of lager at lunchtime; a bottle of Budvar in the evening while watching football

Thursday: no alcohol

Friday: one and a half cans of Grolsch and four glasses of white wine at a friend's

Saturday: no alcohol

Sunday: out to celebrate a friend's birthday. Two pints of Grolsch.

Monday: glass of white wine at home

Ange: "I think of myself as a moderate drinker, but I think I was a bit surprised when I kept a diary because I didn't realise how often I drink."

Dr Bottom: "She drank 13 or 14 units (Government recommendations are 14 units for women and 21 for men in a week), spread over the whole week. I don't think anybody is going to grumble about that. It is all social drinking, which is good."

Ange's response: "I'll have to polish my halo."

Dorothy Dawson, 64, chair of the York Conservative Supper Club

Tuesday: whisky and lemonade before bed

Wednesday: whisky and lemonade before bed

Thursday: whisky and lemonade

Friday: whisky and lemonade

Saturday (visited Stratford-upon-Avon for three days, to take in Richard III): two bottles of Stella Artois in hotel bar after show

Sunday: two bottles of Stella Artois in hotel bar after a meal

Monday: six glasses of white wine during meal with friends

Dorothy: "I'd say I'm a moderate social drinker. And I find that a whisky and lemonade late at night before going to bed ensure's a good night's sleep."

Dr Bottom: "I don't think she drinks excessively. Six white wines is quite a lot - but she's having a meal, and they are small glasses.

I am concerned about the myth of alcohol helping you sleep. It is a myth. Lots and lots of people believe it. But it is their belief when they have a drink that relaxes them and makes them sleep, not the alcohol itself.

What Dorothy has is a habit, and as you get older that can escalate. She is taking alcohol medicinally, and that is inappropriate. I know it is old-fashioned, but there is some evidence to show that cocoa and ovaltine do relax you and help you sleep."

Dorothy's response: "I'll try more lemonade and less whisky!"

Luke Dobbs, 26, manager of a Leeds shoe shop and owner of a York clothing store

Tuesday: five pints and two bottles of Stella Artois, out with friends

Wednesday: a bottle of white wine and four bottles of Stella, out with friends

Thursday: one pint of Fosters at the pub

Friday: one pint of Stella after work

Saturday: a vodka-based cocktail after work, followed by four pints of Stella and nine bottles of Stella

Sunday: Six pints of Stella after work

Monday: 12 large glasses of white wine during the afternoon and evening with friends

Luke: "I'm not surprised. I know that I drink quite a lot. I'm single, so I go out all the time with my mates. My job is quite social, and everybody goes out after work. But I think I'm always in control.

"As a culture, I think we do drink too much. It is just the way we are brought up. If I was to carry on the way I'm going I would start to worry at 35, but not at the moment."

Dr Bottom: "He is binge drinking. His drinking is not gently social, it is aggressively social, and at risk of becoming fairly anti-social.

I'm sure he feels fine, but that he's not being objective. Even though he perhaps doesn't think so, there is no question that his intellectual functioning would be impaired.

And, even though young, he's laying the foundations for further problems in the future."

Luke's response: "It is a bit of a wake-up call."

Updated: 11:26 Friday, October 03, 2003