YOUNG people and social drinkers are fuelling a rise in alcohol-related hospital admissions across the county because of the build up of long-term health problems.

That is according to alcohol charity chiefs who say that the lasting damage caused by drinking a bottle of wine or few pints a night could be behind the rise.

The most recent figures released showed that the number of people admitted to hospital for alcohol-related complaints rose by 610 across Oxfordshire, from 9,350 in the financial 2012-13 to 9,950 the next year.

This 6.5 per cent rise was greater than the increase across the rest of the country, where the number of alcohol-fuelled hospital admissions rose by 50,360, from 1,008,850 to 1,059,219.

However, the figures come at the same time that it has emerged Oxford has the third highest rate of underage drinkers being admitted to hospital in the south east.

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Public Health England (PHE) health profiles show that around 72 people under 18 years old per 100,000 of population had been admitted to hospital, only behind Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

However, Turning Points Oxfordshire operations manager Andy Symons [corr] said the rise was not necessarily down to binge drinkers being rush to hospital, but due to the long-term health problems caused by a lifetime of drinking. He added: “We have seen a big, big rise in the number of referrals to our services, particularly around alcohol, which is interesting and very encouraging.

“We get lots of people drinking more than they should and this has a big impact on their health, their employment, their relationships and their mental health.

“But it’s quite easy to go home and have a bottle or three or four glasses of wine, and that’s an underlying factor in increasing hospital admissions.

“We are experiencing people in their 40s and 50s who are suffering from years of drinking and it creeps up to quite serious concerns.”

Turning Points provides a range of rehabilitation services to people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction at its four centres across the county in Oxford, Didcot, Banbury and Witney.

The worst affected area in Oxfordshire is Cherwell where alcohol-related hospital admissions jumped up 15 per cent from 1,920 to 2,210, whilst Oxford saw a 8.5 per cent increase from 2,350 to 2,550.

The rise this year followed a fall the previous year, when county admissions fell from 10,100 in 2011/12, the first year the figures were published.

However, Oxfordshire County Council spokeswoman Rachel McQuilliam said that more teens and young people are being encouraged to ask for support and more education is being offered at schools.

She added: “The data shows that the difference between Oxfordshire and the national average in terms of under-18s admitted to hospital as a result of alcohol is not statistically significant. However, Alcohol is dangerous to health and is linked to risky behaviour so this is an issue the authority takes very seriously.”