Binge drinking costs taxpayer £4.9 billion a year
Binge drinking costs £4.9 billion a year to the UK taxpayer, or almost £80 per person, the University of Bath's Institute for Policy Research has revealed.
Findings show:
Binge drinking increases the average number of daily injury-related A&E admissions by 8%
The daily average of road accidents by 17%
The average number of alcohol-related arrests by 45%
The number of police officers in duty by around 30%
The research argues that policies in place to regulate alcohol sales and consumption are inadequate and that a possible solution would be increasing the average retail price of alcohol by at least 10 pence per unit.