Every three days a child under 10 is treated in hospital for the effects of alcohol, new government figures show.

According to the data, 648 children under 10 have been treated in accident and emergency wards for alcohol-related illness in the past five years. They were among 24,000 under16s who drank so much that they needed hospital help.

The children have been admitted for mental and behavioural disorders arising from being drunk, liver disease and the toxic effects of excessive drinking.

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for culture, media and sport, said the findings were evidence that an epidemic of underage drinking was spreading to the youngest children and demanded greater controls on the availability of alcohol to minors. “Britain is sinking into an epidemic of alcohol-related illness, yet ministers are doing nothing,” he said.

A separate analysis of Home Office data by the House of Commons library has found that alcohol is widely available to children. The survey-based figures show that more than 500,000 children aged 10 to 17 drink in bars while 13% buy alcohol openly in shops.

The number of under-18s admitted to hospital because they have drunk too much has jumped by 80% over the past five years.

The College of Emergency Medicine said that children who drank became unconscious or unable to stand more swiftly than adults and were at risk of choking on their vomit.

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