NEWCASTLE is the worst area in the country for binge-drinking, according to a study produced for the Department of Health.

Newcastle is narrowly ahead of Liverpool, with almost 30 per cent of people regularly binge-drinking, and other North-East areas are also well up a league table of poor health and premature death.

The Newcastle binge-drinking figure is almost three times the amount reported in Birmingham, which is bottom of the table, with about eight per cent regularly binge-drinking.

Sunderland is sixth in the table, closely followed by Durham and Chester-le-Street, Middlesbrough (10th), South Tyneside (11th), and North Tees (12th).

Other areas with above-average levels of binge-drinking include Gateshead, Hartlepool, Derwentside, Sedgefield, Darlington, Easington, Durham dales and Langbaurgh.

The North-East also fares badly when it comes to people eating fresh fruit and vegetables, and for smoking and obesity, with most areas of the North-East at the wrong end of the national table.

In most cases, North Yorkshire districts fare better than areas further north, with lifestyle patterns broadly in line with the national average for England.

The information is an estimate based on detailed population surveys carried out in each area of the country between 2000 and 2002.