One-in-four is drinking too much, claims new study

That's the shocking finding of an in-depth study into the impact of booze on our city.

Community chiefs ordered the report after a national survey laid bare the effect of alcohol on the health service, crime and disorder.

It looks at the impact of alcohol abuse on doctors, hospitals, police, young people, street workers and families.

They will use it to form the basis for a strategy to combat the social problems fuelled by alcohol in the long-term.

Researchers at Alcohol Concern found that:

Almost 18,000 women and more than 30,000 men drink more than their daily recommended limits of alcohol in York (26.5 per cent of the population)

More than 24,000 people regularly binge drink and about 6,600 people are drinking at levels that will harm their health

More women than ever have problem drinking, making up 53 per cent of those who seek help

There has been a significant increase in liver disease and alcohol-related deaths over the last ten years.

Elaine Curtis, of the Safer York Partnership, which commissioned the £8,000 study, said: "This simply shows the scale of the problem.

"We needed to know what the problem was at the moment so that we can work out how to tackle it.

"The cost of mopping up alcohol-related crime and social issues in York runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

"If we can find ways of educating people and handling the problem more effectively we could not just save money, but families, jobs and ultimately lives."

Alison Tubbs, of York Alcohol Advisory Service, said the research, which will be used to create a strategy to cut alcohol-related harm, was "very necessary".

She said: "It's a good way of highlighting the effect alcohol has on people's lives - but there's no extra government funding to do it."

The strategy is expected to bring together police, health services, local authorities and voluntary groups to improve education for both the public and workers at the sharp end.

It will consider moves such as a referral scheme for people arrested who have drink problems, more work with licensees to cut underage drinking and targeted information for both women and young drinkers.

Community workers will also look at creating a better system for recording alcohol-related crime and patients who need treatment because of underlying alcohol issues to give them a better picture of the problem.

Superintendent Howard Harding, York Police operations commander, said officers have begun patrolling the streets earlier at weekends to tackle potential trouble makers before they get drunk.

He said: "In my experience alcohol figures greatly in most violent crimes whether domestic or on the street among strangers.

"Some parts of the city of York transform from a pleasant Roman town to quite a sinister place at night, but we are striving with others to change this.

"We've got good relations with licensees, door staff and others and we will improve this. If you come to York looking for violence you must know we will catch you and you will be punished."

There were 956 alcohol-related arrests in 2004 in York, 499 of these were violence or public order offences. Violent offences have more than doubled since 2001.

The two wards that suffer the most violent crime are Micklegate and Guildhall. According to Safer York Partnership, this is due to the concentration of licensed premises.

Dr Mike Williams, a senior consultant at York Hospital accident and emergency, said that as the hospital does not record all alcohol-related attendances, the cost on the service was "immeasurable".

But he said: "Alcohol is a serious issue and our figures reflect higher incidences of alcohol-related attendances in the evenings, nights and weekends."

In the report, a nursing sister in York's accident and emergency department said the youngest patient she had dealt with for severe intoxication was 12, but that 14 was a more common age.

:: We asked officials in York for their views on the problems of excessive drinking

Sergeant Robin Edwards, British Transport Police, York Station:

Alcohol misuse is a major problem for the Transport Police and problems at the station peak on Friday and Saturdays. Often the problems are due to stag and hen parties arriving in the city. They use the station to get from Leeds and other places. The main alcohol-related problems at the station are people who are drunk and disorderly, people crossing the tracks rather the use the bridge or people without tickets.

Typically there are one or two arrests for drink-related issues on Friday nights. Incidents of drunk and disorderly behaviour, while relatively uncommon in terms of over 5,000 passengers passing through the station each day, do take up a disproportionate amount of time. One passenger causing a disturbance on a train can affect a lot of people.

Jeremy Jones, Arc Light centre:

Homeless people with alcohol issues are dealt with effectively "at the coalface" in York. But there is a problem with people coming off drugs and using alcohol as a substitute. It is harder to work with clients drinking heavily than those using heroin. In York an old (1879) law is enforced whereby if a person is convicted of a drunkenness offence three times within a 12-month period, magistrates can classify them as an habitual drunkard. The law has been used to tackle street drinking in the city. There are about 20 or 30 street drinkers in York, some of them are totally harmless.

Dick Haswell, City of York Council's head of licensing and regulation:

The city centre has many residents. There is no purely commercial district as in other cities. Therefore there must be a balance between a vibrant night time economy and the needs of residents. I am reasonably optimistic that the new licensing regime will not increase alcohol-related crime and disorder. There will be less movement on the streets and less queuing. People living in Haxby, for example, might not choose to travel into the centre if the local pub stayed open late.

PC David Boag, York Police licensing officer:

ONE of the two police licensing officers for York, PC Boag said a number of initiatives are in place to manage the night time economy. Door staff are regulated by the Security Industry Association (SIA), but prior to this York had a door supervisor scheme for 1,500 people. York officers have trained and registered door staff for the whole of North Yorkshire for the past four years. This means licensing officers have built up a rapport with door staff. Licensing officers also train licensees, who must undergo the training to get a licence. All licensees in the city centre are members of PubWatch and are issued with pagers for rapid communication. They are also linked to ringmaster, a telephone system for sending a voice message instantly to everyone on the system.

Ian Gillies, secretary of Station Taxis:

Alcohol misuse does not affect the business much during the day, except when there are race meetings on. Most of the alcohol-related problems are from late-night revellers.

People lose their sense of reasonableness, they try to push in the ranks, try to get in taxis they shouldn't, and kick doors. Some drivers are reluctant to go to some ranks because of the potential problems.

:: SARAH DRISCOLL asked a group of York residents about their drinking habits

Paul Axon, 57, who lives in Walmgate, said: "I drink 40 pints a week on average. I know what the recommended weekly allowance is but if we all stuck to that no-one would go out."

Jack Harland, 80, of Fulford, said: "I drink a glass of whisky every morning for medicinal purposes and I drink about five pints of beer a week. I drink in moderation."

Geoff Lockwood, 84, of Bishophill, said: "I drink four pints of beer and a bottle of wine a week. I wish I could drink more but I'm on medication."

Daniel Bannister, 23, of Strensall, said: "I drink about 50 pints a week on average. I know it's too much. It used to make me feel ill but I always drink loads of water to re-hydrate my self."

Danielle Healey, 18, who lives in Rawcliffe, said: "I binge drink on a night out but I don't drink through the week. I sometimes regret the night before when I wake up with a hangover."

James Batley, 25, who lives in The Groves, said: "I drink about 30 pints a week. I know it's a lot compared to the average units you're supposed to drink."

Updated: 14:41 Friday, September 02, 2005