Doctors say they are tired of treating patients with alcohol-related health problems or stitching up injuries caused by drunken brawling. Today they are calling on the Government to legislate against shops that sell alcohol for less than a bottle of lemonade. Health Editor Barry Nelson reports

EIGHT out of ten family doctors surveyed in the North-East agree that increasing the price of cheap alcohol will protect their patients’ health.

Click here for a map showing how accessible cheap alcohol is thoughout the region

The survey of medical opinion was carried out by the North-East alcohol control agency, Balance, as part of a campaign to increase understanding of the heavy price North-Easterners are paying for alcohol abuse.

The Real Price of Cheap Alcohol campaign aims to encourage North-Easterners to back a minimum unit price for alcohol of at least 50p.

A minimum unit price would link the price of alcohol to its strength, increasing the price of the cheapest, strongest alcohol, such as strong white cider, but not affecting the price of your pint in the pub or a standard bottle of wine.

The move comes as a Northern Echo survey found cheap booze available in towns across the North-East and North Yorkshire.

The lowest price our reporters found in the region was a £2.29 twolitre bottle of strong white cider containing 15 units of alcohol on sale at the Bishop Auckland branch of Lidl.

Other places where rock-bottom prices were being charged included Iceland, in Yarm Road, Darlington, where a special offer of any two three-litre bottles of Strongbow or Olde English cider worked out as 45 units for £7, or 15.5p per unit of alcohol.

But discount retailers were not the only ones offering cheap booze deals.

The 24-hour Tesco, in Bishop Auckland, was selling two-litre bottles of Crofters Apple Cider containing ten units of alcohol for £1.89, or 19p per unit.

Balance’s campaign is backed by majority of the region’s new clinical commissioning groups, which will take over NHS budgets next year.

The groups, which represent GPs in Darlington, County Durham, Teesside and the rest of the region, have signed an open letter backing the Government over minimum pricing – but urging a 50p per unit minimum price rather than the 40p favoured by the Government.

Dr George Rae, chairman of the British Medical Association in the North-East, said: “A minimum unit price, as a key part of wider alcohol strategy, would have a huge impact on tackling the North-East’s heavy drinking culture.

“Unfortunately, the North-East often finds itself at the top of the league when it comes to alcohol harm. If we are serious about changing this situation, we need to let Government know that the North-East supports a minimum unit price of at least 50p.”

In the North-East:

  • Nearly half of all crime and domestic violence is alcohol-related;
  • We have the highest rate of hospital admissions and male alcoholrelated deaths in England;
  • About 550 under-18s are admitted to hospital each year as a result of alcohol.

Colin Shevills, director of Balance, said: “Cheap alcohol is having a devastating impact on the North-East – it is ending lives, putting people in hospital, fuelling crime and threatening the future of our children and young people.

“This is the real cost of alcohol sold at pocket money prices. It is no bargain, we are paying a heavy price that we can no longer afford.”

Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: “We do not dispute that among a small part of the population, the UK has problems with alcohol misuse, but it is important to recognise that the pattern is improving.

“Total alcohol consumption, average weekly consumption and the proportion of people drinking over the recommended weekly limits are all falling.

“Minimum unit pricing is untried, unproven and there is no evidence to suggest that it will solve alcohol misuse, and related antisocial behaviour.”

Keith Webb, acting managing director for Bargain Booze, which has stores across the region, said that minimum pricing being proposed in Scotland was subject to a legal challenge.