NEARLY a quarter of all adults in Ellesmere Port & Neston confess to being binge-drinkers, according to a new study.

And while the majority of residents enjoy a responsible drink, the borough has more than 16,000 alcoholics and 'hazardous' drinkers registered with GPs.

These shocking results are revealed in the county council's community survey 2006, which was compiled from 1,304 face-to-face interviews carried out across Cheshire earlier this year.

In EP&N 217 men and women were questioned and 203 in Chester.

Of those, 22% in EP&N confessed to binge-drinking and 28% in Chester. As a whole, Cheshire has 24% while the national average is 19%.

Generally, people aged 35-65 were more likely to drink than those aged 18-34. It is these middle-aged 'chronic' drinkers health chiefs now want to target.

The survey says there are 48,433 alcohol abusers in West Cheshire registered with GP surgeries who are dependent on booze or are 'hazardous or harmful' drinkers whose health is at risk.

In EP&N there are 2,346 dependents and 13,758 hazardous drinkers, compared to 4,706 dependents and 27,624 hazardous in Chester.

Related to these figures is the fact that from 1995-2003 EP&N saw a 28% increase in residents suffering digestive diseases related to excessive drinking, mainly cirrhosis of the liver.

This compares to a 40% increase for Chester in the same period. Deaths were mainly in middle to old age.

The survey concluded: 'Because of the higher drinking rates in Chester, it is not surprising there are an estimated 50,000 adults with an alcohol disorder in West Cheshire.

'While some of the alcohol-related harm can be accounted for by the binge-drinking habits of 18-24 year olds, a considerable portion of this harm is occurring in those aged 35-74 who appear to be unaware of the problems caused by their chronic drinking.

'Although we need to tackle binge-drinking, we also need to re-affirm safer drinking messages with this middle-aged group.'

The recommended daily alcohol intake limit for men is 3-4 units of alcohol and 2-3 for women.

Roughly, a small glass of wine is 1 unit, big glass of wine 2, a pint of beer 2-3, spirits 2, and alcopops 1.5.

Western Cheshire PCT director of public health Wendy Meredith added: 'This is a problem throughout the country, not just in Western Cheshire.'

* To check your drinking levels, visit www.howsyourdrink.org.uk/test