HUNDREDS of people in Bolton are being admitted to hospital every month for alcohol-related conditions ­- and the figure is increasing.

Last year 6,680 people in the town were hospitalised for a number of conditions linked to their alcohol consumption, including cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, alcohol poisoning and alcoholic liver disease.

Over the last six years this figure has jumped by 26 per cent, addiction treatment charity UKAT says.

Data released by Public Health England (PHE) also shows that the town has failed to curb the number of children being admitted to hospital ­- which has remained at an average of almost two every week.

Bolton and the UK’s alcohol problem has been described as a “ticking timebomb about to explode” by Nuno Albuquerque, group treatment lead at UKAT, who criticised the Government over a lack of action.

He added: "NHS hospitals in particular across the North West are crippling under pressures directly attributable to the misuse of alcohol, a drug that is so socially accepted yet so incredibly dangerous.

“People here are seemingly struggling with their alcohol consumption, drinking so much alcohol that it is leading to hospitalisation and the diagnosis of further, debilitating conditions, yet the Government continues to have its head buried in the sand.”

Last year The Bolton News reported that almost three people a week were drinking themselves into an early grave in the town as a result of the area’s crippling alcohol dependency.

The town was consequently ranked among the worst in the nation for alcohol-related deaths and admissions to hospital.

Alcohol misuse is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health and disability among 15 to 49-year-olds in the UK, PHE has said. Reducing harmful drinking is one of its seven priority areas.