A hard-hitting advertising campaign will aim to shake middle-aged women out of their complacency towards alcohol consumption after research revealed just one large glass of wine a night could increase their risk of breast cancer by 50 per cent.

The £10m campaign, which will include an image of two wine glasses without stems to represent breasts, is designed to leave women in no doubt about the potential effects of alcohol on their health.

The move has been sparked by a Department of Health report which shows women who drink more than 14 units per week are 50 per cent more likely to get breast cancer.

It suggests alcohol consumption is implicated in around 2,000 cases of breast cancer each year as well as causing other cancers, liver damage and fertility problems in women.

Dawn Primarolo, the public health minister, said: "Women who regularly drink too much are 50 per cent more likely to develop breast cancer. And many drink too much simply because they have no idea how many alcohol units they are consuming.

"After the campaign no one will be in any doubt as to how many units they're drinking and the impact that can have on their health."

With much attention having been given to the problem of teenage binge drinking in recent years, ministers are also becoming increasingly worried by data showing a steep rise in hospital admissions of older women with conditions linked to alcohol consumption.

Increasing rates of drinking, particularly amoung the middle classes, have been blamed in part on stronger wines and the fashion for bigger wine glasses, leading to confusion over how many units each glass contains.

With one 250ml glass containing up to 3.5 units, just one each evening would put a woman well over her weekly allowance.

Ms Primarolo added: "Professional women who drink too much - but do so without causing harm to others - have for a long time gone under the radar.

"It's fair to say that most women don't know how much they're drinking.

"They don't know how many units they are drinking. And they don't know that, at 3.5 units, that large glass of Rioja they drank last night actually took them over their daily amount."

Official guidelines say women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, and men no more than 21. Half a pint of beer or lager of 3.5 per cent strength is one unit but many beers are stronger than this. Similarly, one small glass (125ml) of wine of eight per cent alcohol is one unit but most wines are now between 11 and 13 per cent.

Alcohol-related deaths have doubled in 10 years and doctors are becoming increasingly concerned at the growing number of women with liver damage, pancreatitis and cirrhosis.

Government figures show that 20 per cent of women in the UK (4.9m) consume between 14 and 35 units a week, putting them in the hazardous drinkers category.

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