WORCESTER is the hazardous' drinking capital of the West Midlands according to a league of shame released by the action team determined to clamp down on alcohol abuse.

Peter Thorogood, chief executive of the Worcestershire Community Alcohol Team, said he was more surprised than anyone to learn that Worcester is top of the league table when it comes to "hazardous drinking".

Worcester beat 33 other local authorities to top spot in the list, including Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Warwick and Bromsgrove, according to the latest figures, supplied to WCAT by the NHS.

Mr Thorogood said some people in Worcester - men and women - were regularly drinking more than 21 units in a single night - more than the safe level for a whole week.

Last year Worcestershire Royal Hospital recorded 213 injuries as a result of alcohol, including falls and fights 479 accident and emergency attendances due to alcohol abuse (with and without overdose) - a total of 692 incidents In this same time period 107 people were referred for further alcohol assessment, at their own request), with the Worcestershire Community Alcohol Team.

Mr Thorogood said Worcester had a tradition of attracting seasonal workers who spent their money in pubs and clubs and that drinking levels were high because it was an attractive riverside city. He said: "The police are doing a lot to tackle drinking in Worcester. These people are being arrested but are also being given the option of seeing us here at WCAT and doing something about it. I was very surprised when I saw the levels of hazardous drinking in Worcester.

"There isn't any part of the body that drinking doesn't affect. You don't go into hospital and see a sign over the bed saying "alcohol" but one in four hospital admissions are alcohol related."

Hospital admissions due to alcohol cost the NHS almost £90,000 a day or £32 million a year Richard Harling, director of public health for Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, announced record levels of spending on public health at the board meeting at Kidderminster Hospital yesterday which will involve injecting £2.4 million into tackling health problems such as obesity and promoting a more healthy lifestyle, including encouraging people to drink less alcohol.

He said: "It's a national problem and I don't think Worcestershire is any worse than anywhere else. Binge drinking tends to be among younger people and is harmful in terms of acute health problems like injuries from fights, social problems and crime. The other problem is older people drinking too much every day. The problem is that people start to develop liver disease, high blood pressure, strokes and heart damage. We have seen relatively young people with liver disease."

No one from south Worcestershire police was available to comment.