One in ten people in NHS hospitals is alcohol dependent, according to a major study which calls for all patients to be quizzed on their drinking habits.

The study of more than 1.6 million admissions found that one in five people admitted for any reason was drinking at harmful levels.

And one in ten was classed as being dependent on alcohol, the research by Kings College London found.

Researchers called for checks on all patients admitted to hospital - whatever the reason.

Alcohol related conditions have previously been estimated to cost the NHS around £3.5bn pounds a year.

But experts said the findings suggest Britain’s alcohol problem is far greater than had been assumed.

Lead researcher Dr Emmert Roberts, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, said: “The numbers are so massive that it shows that everybody in hospital should be being screened about their alcohol use.

“If you only ask people about the drinking when the signs are obvious, such as alcohol on the breath, or conditions that are most closely associated with alcohol, you are missing a vast swathe of people.”