Christmas party-goers in UK will knock back 265 million pints

CHRISTMAS party-goers will drink more than 600 million units of alcohol during the festive season, according to research.

Festive celebrations, including Christmas day itself, will see British drinkers knock back the equivalent of 265 million pints, 602 million shots of vodka or 286 million glasses of mulled wine, the research from alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware found.

Nearly half of those surveyed (47 per cent) said they were likely to drink more than the recommended daily guidelines, which is three to four units a day for men and two to three units for women.

The research comes as Drinkaware unveiled touch screens in the centres of London, Glasgow, Leeds and Birmingham, for people to enter what they have had to drink in the last 24 hours.

The charity said it believed this would be the largest ever interactive assessment of the nation’s drinking habits, allowing people to compare their drinking with the rest of the nation.

The ICM poll of 2,010 adults, carried out for Drinkaware, found one in seven (14 per cent) drink more than they mean to over Christmas while one in six (16 per cent) believe December is the one month of the year they can drink without feeling guilty.

More than one in three Britons (36 per cent) will go to three or more Christmas events, with more than half (53 per cent) saying they will drink alcohol at most or all of the festive parties they attend.

More men are expected to drink over their unit guidelines during the festive season (54 per cent) than women (41 per cent).

Chief executive of Drinkaware Chris Sorek said: “For many people, December and the festive season is a time for getting together with loved ones and celebrating over a drink or two, or even more!

“It might feel like party time, but it’s still really important to keep track of how much you’re drinking - the long-term effects of drinking to excess can last for much longer than Christmas.

“Although it seems an enormous amount, it’s likely that 602 million units is actually an underestimate of how much alcohol we’ll slug over the festive season."

CHECK OUT THIS IPOD APP THAT WILL MONITOR YOUR CHRISTMAS DRINKING...