ALCOHOL abuse and drunken accidents in Swindon have more than doubled in less than a decade.

But this rise in alcohol-related hospital admissions in Swindon is not out of the ordinary, with other towns experiencing a similar rate of growth.

However, Swindon is far worse than some rival towns of a similar size, standing at roughly double Reading and Oxford’s numbers for alcohol-related casualties.

The figures include everything from liver disease and alcohol poisoning, to drink-driving or booze-fuelled blunders.

Hospital admissions also appear to have started spiking around 2008, the same time the recession began biting in, with increases of around 500 each year compared with between 200 and 400 in previous years.

The figures are submitted to the Government each quarter, and although no final tally exists for 2010/11, the Adver’s calculations estimate it will easily top 4,000 for the year.

One recovering alcoholic is not surprised.

Phil Spalding, 53, of Rodbourne, has been sober for the last six years after a spell in Gloucester House rehab centre in Highworth.

He said: “Have I noticed it to be on the increase? Personally I came from a background where drinking was prevalent in my social class and in my family.

“What I do notice is it seems to be more prevalent among the younger population nowadays.

“We used to try one on when we were teenagers. But when I was growing up we didn’t drink in the streets. That’s what I notice.

“Some of the stuff you see on a Friday or Saturday night you wouldn’t have seen when I was growing up.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise, when you see the problems there are around, be it drinking at home, drinking in pubs, the 24-hour drinking culture, being able to buy cheap alcohol from the supermarket.

“It’s ok us waving our arms in the air and trying to cure it, but where are the preventative measures in the first place?”

Bill Carlton, director of Swindon and Wiltshire Alcohol and Drug Service (SWADS), said there does appear to have been a cultural change in the past decade with the arrival of the binge drinking culture.

He said: “In the past 10 years that has really increased, so that would coincide with an increase in hospital admissions.

“We believe it is a massive issue for health services in 10 to 15 years’ time. They’re damaging their bodies, their livers, by drinking in this way.

“The difficulty is people lead a relatively normal life between binges. But on Thursday or Friday night they go out and get slaughtered.”