Drunk children are ending up in hospitals at just 13 years old and younger, official figures have revealed.

Department of Health data show a child under-14 is admitted to hospital in the Thames Valley area - which includes Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital and Banbury's Horton Hospital - every week for alcohol abuse.

The Conservative Party, which published the figures, dubbed the problem it revealed as "tragic".

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats demanded Government action to save thousands of young people from "a future of alcoholism and serious liver disease".

According to the figures, 52 people under 14 were admitted to hospitals in the Thames Valley with "alcohol specific conditions" in 2005/6.

By comparison, in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire area the number of under-14s ending up in hospital after drinking alcohol was just 19 over the 12 month period.

Across England, 1,441 children under 14 were treated in hospital for conditions caused by alcohol abuse.

This is despite a key pledge in the Government's NHS Plan, in 2000, to "address alcohol misuse which causes 30,000 early deaths a year".

Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health spokesman, said: "It is tragic that so many children have been sucked into alcohol abuse at such a young age."

The Department of Health stressed children were taught about the dangers of drinking in primary school.

A spokeswoman said: "We remain concerned about young people and alcohol abuse, which is why the updated cross-Government alcohol strategy Safe, Sensible, Social, highlights these very issues and outlines how the Government plans to tackle this."