HALF of men and a quarter of women in the North quaff more alcohol than they should -- yet most services to tackle drink problems are in the South, a report warned today.

The State of the Nation report, produced by the charity Alcohol Concern, also showed that in some parts of the country more than a quarter of 11 to 15 year olds drunk alcohol at least once a week.

Official advice is that men should not drink more than three to four units a day, and women no more than two to three daily.

But the charity's latest report reveals that in Merseyside 46% of men and 28% of women drink more than these recommended levels.

In other parts of the North West 45% of men and 27% of women consume more than the advised amount and the North East is close behind with 44% of men and 26% of women drinking above the limits.

The report also shows that young people in the North are following in their parents' footsteps.

In the North East 26% of 11-15 year olds drank alcohol at least once a week, in Yorkshire the figure was 21%, followed by 20% in the North West.

Bottom of the table was London with just 12% of 11-15 year olds saying they drank alcohol weekly.

Despite these findings, the charity found that a disproportionate number of the country's 507 alcohol counselling and treatment services were in the South.

London and the South East has 28.5% of them. with just 8.8% in the Lancashire and Greater Manchester areas and 3.9% in Tyne and Wear.

Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said this mismatch between consumption and support was one reason why effective national and local strategies were needed.

"We have a history in this country of dealing with the symptoms of alcohol misuse rather than the root causes and this means that we have generally been on the back foot trying to respond to problems as best we can," he said.

"The Government's welcome consultation on an alcohol harm reduction strategy gives us an unprecedented opportunity to move on to the front foot - to place much more emphasis on issues such as prevention and education - and to co-ordinate what we do at national government and local levels."

The State of the Nation report was presented today at the charity's annual conference in London.

Across the country it shows the proportion of men and women respectively who drink above the recommended level are -

Yorkshire and Humber (42% and 23%), East Midlands (43%, 23%), West Midlands (35%, 19%), London (31%, 19%), South West (35%, 21%), South East (39%, 23%) and East England (31%, 20%).

The report also highlights that one person in 13 is dependent on alcohol, which is twice as many as are hooked on all other drugs.

And 40% of people who carried out violent crime were under the influence of alcohol, according to their victims, and 60% of bosses say they have problems with employees drinking.

Almost one million children live with a parent who misuses alcohol and one in six of all people killed on the roads are victims of drink drive accidents.

The report also warns that since the 1970s, death rates from chronic liver disease have soared - with an eight-fold increase among men aged 35-44 and a seven-fold rise among women of the same age.

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