About one in 20 adults in the county are putting their health at serious risk by heavy drinking, a leading charity has warned.

Alcohol Concern said official statistics suggested six per cent were classed as heavy drinkers and 20 per cent were putting themselves in harm’s way because of the amount of alcohol they consumed.

And the cost to the county’s health service was almost £30m.

The charity looked at county figures around visits to hospital and alcohol-related deaths. It estimated 96,803 people drink more than experts recommended, which increases the risk of their health being damaged.

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And 32,041 drink so heavily it significantly increases the risk of damage, and may have already done so.

Alcohol Concern chief executive Jackie Ballard said: “The NHS is now facing an intolerable strain from alcohol-related illnesses.

“This is not just from readily-identifiable causes such as A&E visits and admissions for liver disease, but from a significant number of other conditions in which alcohol plays a major, but often under-appreciated, part.”

As well as the right NHS services, the “most effective” way to prevent problem drinking was a minimum price per unit of alcohol, she said.

This was rejected by the Government last July over concerns there was not enough “concrete evidence” it would reduce harm.

Figures from 2012/13 show 95,505 alcohol-related hospital attendances, including 51,227 A&E visits – out of a total of 117,268 – and 9,297 that needed an overnight stay.

The charity said alcohol cost the county’s NHS £27.8m, of which £4.7m was overnight stays wholly attributable to drink. There were 217 alcohol-related deaths that year compared to 177 on average in the south east, where harmful drinking was also 20 per cent.

The charity said figures were not available that could be compared to previous years.

Mrs Ballard added: “Binge-drinking is extremely dangerous, but there are also the people who are unaware they’re regularly drinking above recommended limits. It’s this regular drinking of a bit too much too often that stores up all sorts of health problems.”

Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for public health Hilary Hibbert-Biles said alcohol was related to “a surprising number of serious health conditions”.

She said: “For example, heart disease, bowel cancer and anxiety are all conditions which can be caused or made worse by alcohol.”

She said it was working to educate people about drinking and provide services to help people cut down and battle addiction.

The Government recommends men drink no more than three to four units a day and for women, it is two to three units – one unit being slightly more than a 5.2 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) pint of lager, beer or cider or a 175ml standard glass of wine of 13 per cent ABV.

Alcohol Concern Department of Health spokesman Ian Floyd said: “We are taking action to tackle cheap and harmful alcohol such as banning the lowest priced drinks, and we are working with industry to remove a billion units from the market over four years.”

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