More than 500 people a day are being admitted to hospital because of alcohol-induced accidents, violence and liver damage, a charity said yesterday.

The number of alcohol-related hospital admissions has increased by almost a third since the licensing laws were relaxed almost two years ago.

The British Liver Trust said that the number now being admitted to hospitals because of alcohol was a big problem for the country. It blamed a combination of cheap drink and extended drinking times.

Alison Rogers, the chief executive of the trust, said: “Five hundred people a day is really shocking. People are just starting to wake up to the damage being caused by alcohol.”

She added: “It’s also related to the fact there’s not enough parental control over young people and parents are also setting a bad example to young people when it comes to drink.

“The cost to the NHS is phenomenal. When you hear about doctors having to cover their A&E in bubble wrap for New Year’s Eve because they are going to get sick up the walls, that’s what we are talking about.

“It’s shocking that taxpayers’ money is being used to constantly bail out our cheap-booze culture.”

NHS statistics show that in 2003-04 there were 147,659 admissions to English hospitals where alcohol was given as a cause. In 2004-05 there were 170,130. In 2005-06, when the drinking laws were relaxed, the total was 193,637, or 530 admissions a day.

The North East has the highest number, according to NHS statistics, closely followed by the North West. East Anglia has the lowest.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “The updated cross-Government alcohol strategy, ‘Safe, Sensible, Social’, highlights all the issues around alcohol and how the Government plans to tackle them.”

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