Binge drinking a factor in shock 40pc rise in liver disease deaths in England

Binge drinking and 24-hour alcohol shops have helped cause a "shocking" 40 per cent jump in deaths from liver disease in England, public health officials said on Monday.

The survey over a 12-year period found that England is now the only European country where fatalities from liver disease are rising, as drinking has gone down in other parts of Europe.

"These results were far more shocking than I imagine," said Julia Verne, who is head of liver disease at Public Health England, the government agency in charge of health care.

"It's clear from looking at the data that the continuous availability of alcohol, and not just binge drinking, is fuelling an increase in deaths from liver disease," she said.

The study found that the preventable disease was now the country's only major cause of death that was still rising, killing 10,948 people in 2012 compared to 7,481 in 2001.

"England is the only country in Europe where the death rate from liver disease is increasing and not falling and that's because our alcohol consumption is going up and theirs is going down," she said.