BOURNEMOUTH’s women binge drinkers determined to match the alcohol consumption of their male friends are a ticking “health timebomb”, according to a charity boss.

The warning comes after new figures showed that binge drinking among women has almost doubled in a decade as the alcohol gender gap gets smaller.

Under-18s alcohol-related hospital admissions in Bournemouth are already 34 per cent higher than the England average with 16 per cent of the town’s adults engaging in “harmful drinking”.

Imogen Shillito from the Ringwood-based British Liver Trust said: “Women going out in Bournemouth matching their male friends drink for drink puts them at increasing risk of liver disease due to differences in liver size, body fat and metabolism.

“Changing drinking patterns mean a health timebomb for women in years to come. We already have a serious issue with men suffering from alcohol; the death rate in Bournemouth is almost twice that for the whole of England.

“Twice as many men as women die from alcohol-related liver disease.

“We want to close the gender gap by reducing the death rate in men, rather than seeing an increasing liver health threat to women.”

While women binge drinkers rose from eight per cent to 15 per cent since 1998 and binge drinking among men increased from 22 per cent to 23 per cent, research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows a slight drop in children drinkers.

Ms Shillito stressed that children’s drinking habits were still “worrying” and action was needed to protect them, adding: “Those children who do drink are consuming more alcohol, more often.

“We support efforts by Bournemouth and Poole PCT to tackle alcohol-related problems through initiatives such as easier access to alcohol treatment services and early identification of people who need help by GPs.”

Jon Shipp, Bournemouth’s night-time economy co-ordinator, said: “The figures show that generally men drink more than women; I think in our society we should expect that gender gap to narrow.

“It’s important that we do not overlook the overall decline in alcohol consumption in recent years and continue to send out strong messages on responsible drinking.”