A GRANDAD and former Poole pub landlord, who for more than a decade drank up to 40 pints of beer a day, has attacked calls for health warnings on alcohol.

Ken Chappell, 78, has accused health chiefs of running a ‘nanny state’ after recent calls were made for bottled beer to carry warnings like cigarettes.

Pensioner Ken, who used to run Poole’s Pottery Hotel and the Branksome Railway Hotel, is still a regular drinker at the Oakdale pub near his Canford Heath home.

“I never drink before 7.30pm, but today I still drink six pints a day,” he said.

“I recently went to see a miserable doctor who told me he wanted to get rid of my beer belly, but I asked why?”

“He sent me for loads of tests and I went back to see another doctor for the results and he said there was nothing wrong with me.

“We are consistently told that two or three pints a day will kill you, maybe not today, but in the future.

“But I’m 78, so when is it going to be my time?” joked Ken.

The former landlord said he regularly drank between 30 and 40 pints daily when he ran pubs during the seventies and eighties.

He said: “I didn’t drink spirits but I drank beer every day and hate the way it is being blamed for everything that is wrong with the country nowadays.

“Every day I worked, I ate well and I’ve never appeared in court for anything other than getting my liquor licence.

“And in 60 years of drinking beer only – to what many people say is excess – tests show my liver is normal.

“I just think there are too many people telling us what is healthy and what is not in today’s Britain. I am living proof they are wrong about a lot of things.”

Heavy drinking effects well documented

Dr Shelley Carter who is based at the Providence Surgery in Boscombe, which runs a community drug and alcohol detox programme, said the effects of heavy drinking are well documented.

“The recommended weekly amount of alcohol is set at 14 units for a woman and 21 units for men - no more than four for men or three for women per day - with two alcohol free days weekly.

“But some people will always take risks and Mr Chappell has been lucky to avoid serious health issues from his drinking.

“My Uncle Bill smoked 40 cigarettes daily until he died at 93, but I would never suggest that smoking was not harmful to health to any of my patients.

“Men can often be resistant to changing their drinking habits, but in my professional experience the families of these men are very aware that there is a problem.

“The effects of heavy drinking have been well studied and there are indisputable increases in certain illnesses with increasing alcohol intake.

“It can lead to liver disease, heart disease, throat, mouth and breast cancer and psychiatric problems as alcohol is a natural depressant.

“Alcohol would never have been approved for safe sale if it was invented today. But in view of the rising death rate and well-known scenes of mayhem in A&E departments every weekend, we can no longer ignore the negative effects of alcohol on our health.

“Alcohol is very addictive and to quit whilst consuming this amount of alcohol can result in uncontrolled seizures so should be done under specialist supervision.

“Treatment for heavy drinkers is based on safe detox which is usually about a week-long followed by a programme focusing on the treatment of the addiction. These treatments are all available on the NHS.”

For more information contact the Providence Surgery on 01202 395195 or the Bournemouth Drug & Alcohol Action team on 01202 458947.