A WARNING has gone out to the public that unless time is called on dangerous drinking habits the death toll from alcohol will continue to increase.

Shocking figures show the booze culture is leading to levels of coronary heart disease, obesity and depression to spiral, along several cancers.

In Wales alone, 40 per cent of patients who are admitted to casualty departments are diagnosed as suffering from alcohol-related illness or injury.

Meanwhile, the death toll from liver cirrhosis has more than quadrupled, as Britons are hitting the bottle twice as hard as they did 40 years ago.

Swansea-based GP Ian Millington, secretary of Morgannwg Local Medical Committee, said it could now be seen that younger drinkers were now suffering the serious side-effects of alcohol abuse.

Dr Millington said: "I think South Wales is traditionally a heavy drinking area as alcohol consumption has gone up in other parts of the country, it's gone up in this area.

"We are seeing the problems earlier and earlier and people in their mid-teens with serious alcohol problems along with people below the legal age of consumption.

"The important thing is a certain amount of regulation goes on if you are above the age to drink but not if you are under — there is more unregulated drinking."

"Alcohol has become more available in an unregulated form, as there has been a move towards a more continental style of drinking."

He added: "The difficulty is against a hard drinking culture it adds to the problems."

Research shows alcohol misuse is related to more than 60 medical conditions, including heart and liver disease, diabetes and strokes, along with mental health problems.

Since 1991, the number of alcohol-related deaths has more than doubled to 8,700 a year.

Back in June, the Faculty of Public Health and Association of Directors of Public Health, called for a series of hard-hitting measures to be put in place to curb the country's worsening problem of alcohol misuse.

Alan Maryon, faculty president of the organisation, previously said: "Every week we seem to be hit with yet another shocking statistic about the damage done by alcohol misuse to individuals and society.

"All of us, especially the Government, have to stop tiptoeing around this problem and really get to grips with it.

"We need firm action now," added Mr Maryon.