A child under ten is admitted to hospital to be treated for alcohol-related problems once every three days in England, according to Government figures revealed today.

Between 2002 and 2007, a total of 648 under-tens and more than 24,000 under-16s were hospitalised because of excessive intake of alcohol.

The figures come from within a parliamentary answer revealed by the Liberal Democrats ahead of the launch tomorrow of their strategy to tackle underage and binge drinking.

In the 16-17 age bracket alone, they revealed, around 12,500 teenagers were admitted to Accident and Emergency for alcohol-related conditions, marking an increase of 95 per cent between 2002 and 2007.

Reacting to figures from the Department of Health, Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster is calling for a change to Britain's drinking culture, and said the Government had "completely failed" to tackle the problem.

He said: “For so many children of such a young age to be hospitalised is scandalous. Ministers must conduct an urgent review of the systems in place, which are meant to be ensuring that young children cannot have access to such harmful substances.

“Only a complete change to our drinking culture will prevent a whole generation of young people from being condemned to serious alcohol-related illnesses.”

Figures show that between 2002 and 2003, 85,000 over-18s were admitted to hospital because of alcohol, a number which increased by 80 per cent to 150,000 between 2006 and 2007.

In total over the last five years, hospitals have treated more than 600,000 adults and 36,585 under-18s in NHS trusts in England. On average, 130 children under ten were admitted each year between 2002 and 2007, equating to an admission once every 72 hours.

To qualify as an alochol-related admission, the diagnosis must mention one of: mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use, alcoholic liver disease, or the toxic effect of alcohol.

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