JUST as our livers are starting to recover from the annual seasonal hammering, it's worth pondering on a fascinating report of genuine alcoholic excess.

Groups of revellers in Manchester are apparently blowing as much as £50,000 on a night out, with £3,000 each regularly spent on vintage wines and the finest champagne.

Much of this will be down to some bars and restaurants charging huge amounts for particular bottles and, although it's not a real indicator of how people spend their cash generally, it does sound slightly obscene.

No doubt, there will be much shaking of heads and mutters of "A fool and his money are soon parted".

Personally, I prefer "You can tell what God thought of money by looking at who he gave it to".

That helps to put the situation into perspective.