MOST people would be called heroes if they had saved just one life - Peter Thorogood has saved hundreds, possibly thousands, in his war on the demon drink.

That quintessentially British pursuit - getting wasted - is wrecking more lives and livers than ever before across the country and men like Peter may be the only thing standing between big boozers and the grave.

Peter, who is chief executive of the Worcestershire Community Alcohol Team, and his group use one-to-one and telephone counselling and supervised detoxification' schemes to get people to cut their drinking.

A well-known Worcester street drunk, born and bred in the city and who always seemed to be on the wrong side of the law, said the team certainly saved his life.

Peter, aged 61, who has been working at WCAT since 1993, said: "He used to live in the rubble of the sorting office when they demolished it at the back of the railway station.

"He used to visit us on a very regular basis and used to fall asleep in our doorway.

"He was always getting nicked by the police and was constantly in trouble. GPs didn't want to know him because he was smelly and dirty and A&E didn't want to know him because he had been there so many times before but we all persevered with him. One day it all gelled for him and he became something of an evangelist, saying how dreadful and evil drink was.

"He came to see us sober and we kept regular contact with him.

"He said to us if it hadn't been for you I would be dead. That makes it all very worthwhile because a lot of people disappear into the void."

Another Worcester woman who found herself in need of the service, said its "non-judgemental service" helped to increase her awareness of the strength of alcohol and of the risks.

She said: "I'm so much more aware now of the strength of different alcoholic drinks - sometimes you just don't know what you're drinking."

Peter completed a university diploma in alcohol counselling but the real learning began during a "baptism of fire" working with 1,000 homeless people in Arlington House, Camden, north London.

But anyone who thinks Worcester is a drunken stumble in the park by comparison would be very wrong - the city has the worst level of hazardous drinking' in the West Midlands. Hazardous drinking is defined as drinking three times the sensible limit (21 units for men and 14 for women per week) and Worcester beats 33 other local councils to the top spot. The WCAT has confirmed that some people in the city are actually drinking 21 units in a single night.

Peter has seen first hand the dangers of alcohol in Worcester - he remembers in disturbing detail his tour of duty with police on a typical Saturday night in Angel Place.

He said: "I saw people falling out of the clubs, throwing bottles through the air, fighting and urinating in the street despite the high visibility of police cars. I was in the police van and there were even people trying to get into the van as a dare. I was quite shocked. There seemed to be a general disregard for common decency. It was impossible for police to do anything - they had their hands full. They were trying to look after vulnerable people."

Peter even says he hopes some heavy drinkers get arrested, not because he wants to see them in trouble, but because it may be the only way to get them to stop drinking.

He added: "Sometimes the only way you can keep some people alive is to arrest them."

This culture of heavy drinking could explain why 40 per cent of A&E admissions in Worcester are alcohol-related and between midnight and 5am on Saturdays this rises to up to 70 per cent.

This is not to mention the long term damage it does to the body, especially among young women.

Alcohol, when drunk to excess, harms almost every organ in the human body, not just the liver and kidneys - damaging the brain and the nervous system, increasing the risk of developing dementia.

Cheap deals in supermarkets mean it is now possible for men to get three times beyond the recommended weekly limit for just £7.29 and women can get four times their recommended intake for the same price.

The choice of drinks for young men in the city are beer and cider while young women are drinking more wine and spirits.

People tend to think of Christmas and new year as peak times for binge drinking but Peter says it can also hit a peak during hot summers when people use the good weather as an excuse to sit outside and drink in beer gardens or parks.

Binge drinking is increasing in Worcestershire - WCAT has experienced an increase in referrals in every age group except 31-35 year olds. The problem, Peter says, is partly connected to the British culture of buying rounds, standing up in pubs and clubs which increases the rate at which people drink and the increasing tendency to get "pre-loaded" on cheap drink before hitting the pubs and clubs.

FACT FILE: BINGE DRINKINGWhat is binge drinking?Binge drinking is defined in line with the Office for National Statistics' definition as drinking eight or more units for men and six or more units for women at least one day a week. In Worcestershire this involves 35 per cent of men and just under 20 per cent of women.

Under age drinking is also rife in the city - WCAT estimates that 32 per cent of 15-year-old boys and 31 per cent of 15-year-old girls binge drink.

Hospital admissionsMore than 500 people a day are now being admitted to hospitals in England after drinking too much. Hospital admissions due to alcohol are also rising - in 2004/05 there were 170,130 admissions. In 2005/06 - the year 24-hour drinking laws were introduced - the total reached 193,637 - the equivalent of 530 admissions a day.CostHospital admissions cost the NHS almost £90,000 a day or £32 million a year.Stronger drinksStudies show that nearly 13 million Britons are drinking too much because they didn't appreciate the increasing strength of alcohol. The average strength of wine has increased from nine per cent in 1978 to 12.5 per cent today.HelpThe Worcestershire Community Alcohol Team was formed in 1979 as an alternative to hospital-based treatment and now has four offices in the county - in Worcester, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and Redditch, offering outreach in Malvern and Evesham. For more information contact WCAT on 01905 27417.