Britain has the largest number of "very high risk" drinkers in Europe, a new study reveals.

Nearly 1.2 million  or just under 3 per cent of those aged 15 to 64  are drinking at levels that are knocking two to three decades off their lives.

A "very high" level of drinking was defined as consuming the equivalent of 1.2 - 1.5 bottles of wine every day.

Researchers described this group  around a fifth of problem drinkers  as "the most severely affected population of alcohol users ....chronically intoxicated" to the extent that their organs are being poisoned and their perception is impaired on a daily basis.