EXPERTS have dubbed the rate of alcohol-related liver disease in Poole as 'horrifying' after new figures revealed that admissions of people with the condition have rocketed by 69 per cent in five years.

The latest data from Public Health England shows that the rate has gone up to 70 patients admitted for every 100,000 people between April 2016 and March 2017, meaning that 102 people in Poole were admitted due to this condition in 2016-17.

Bournemouth fared a little better, with 74 people admitted to hospital with liver conditions caused by alcohol in the 12 months to March 2018.

The Dorset health area, however, saw just 25 patients admitted for every 100,000, well below the average of 39 per 100,000 for England, with Bournemouth having a rate of 43 patients per100,000 residents, higher than the national average of 39 for England.

Nationally, the rate ranges from ten per 100,000 in Sutton to 127 in Blackburn with Darwen with data showing that men are twice as likely as women to receive hospital treatment for this illness.

Socioeconomic status is also a factor, said PHE. The rate of alcohol-related liver disease admissions among the most deprived in society is 57 for every 100,000 people, but is below 29 for the most well off.

Liver experts at the Institute of Hepatology said the figures were "horrifying" and called on the Government to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol to discourage drinking.

A spokesperson for Public Health England said: "Liver disease is one of the top causes of death in England and people are dying from it at younger ages. Most liver disease is preventable and much is influenced by alcohol consumption and obesity prevalence."

In 2014, the Lancet Commission on alcohol-related liver diseases estimated that health problems caused by alcohol are costing the NHS £3.5 billion a year.

Professor Roger Williams, director of the Institute of Hepatology, proposed setting a minimum price per unit of alcohol to curb drinking.

"Liver disease mortality rates have increased about 600 per cent in the last 50 years," he said. "That happens because alcohol consumption among the population has increased and this is linked to the fact that the costs of alcoholic drinks proportionally have fallen."

"Setting a minimum alcohol price is a highly effective way of dealing with the problem. In Canada, they had a 14 per cent drop in emergency admissions and an eight per cent drop in mortality in the first 12 months after setting this minimum."