Young women are putting their health at risk with heavy drinking.

Women's Editor Christen Pears reports on an alarming trend.

IT'S Saturday night in Jesmond and, although it's freezing, scantily-clad young women are meandering up Osborne Road in varying states of drunkenness, stopping off at each of the many bars along the way.

Three girls are standing by a wall, huddled around a friend. It's difficult to tell whether she's crying or being sick. This is not an unusual sight. Jesmond now rivals the Quayside as a favourite drinking venue for North-Easterners - and women are among the heaviest drinkers.

Inside one bar, a group of young women are sitting round a table. Twenty-one-year-old Siobhan Riley is cradling a glass of vodka and Red Bull. The sweet, sickly aroma fills the air but it's her favourite drink and her fifth of the evening. A student at Loughborough University, she is staying with her parents in Gateshead for the holidays and enjoying a night out with some of her old school friends.

Like thousands of other young women, she drinks little or nothing during the week, saving herself for the heavy drinking sessions that characterise her Friday and Saturday nights, when she often spends as much as £60.

"I probably started drinking when I was 15 or 16 with my friends. We would go out and try to get into clubs and drink ourselves stupid. It was good fun but I don't do that as much now. I'm much more sensible," she says.

But Siobhan's idea of sensible seems to include a couple of bottles of wine or eight vodkas.

"I don't have a lot during the week because I'm a student and I can't afford it but I do like to drink at the weekend. It's a social thing. Everyone does it - men and women - and I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I think I've got a pretty good alcohol tolerance so I don't see why not."

Siobhan is one of a growing number of British women who are putting their health at risk by binge-drinking. The average young woman now drinks the equivalent of five bottles of wine a week. Over the last 30 years, the number of men drinking has remained largely stable but researchers and health practitioners have watched a steady increase in women's drinking, particularly among 16 to 24-year-olds, where the numbers have rocketed.

More than half of women aged 16 to 24 drink more than the recommended 14 units of alcohol each week. Many of them aren't even aware of the limits.

Binge-drinking has always been a feature of British society. Men are still the worst culprits, but women are following suit. Binge-drinking is far less common elsewhere in Europe. In countries such as France and Spain, getting drunk is far less socially acceptable and people tend to drink smaller amounts on a more regular basis.

They also drink far less. The average 18 to 24-year-old in Britain downs 203 litres of alcohol a year - more than women in any other European country. Italian women, by comparison, get through just 59 litres.

According to Geethika Jayatilaka, director of policy and public affairs at Alcohol Concern, the implications for health are alarming.

"Men are still heavier drinkers and they're more likely to binge drink but there has been a significant increase in young women drinking and that's a real concern - not so much socially but physiologically. Women's bodies just don't have the same capacity to deal with alcohol as men's."

Genetic differences mean men's bodies are better at breaking down alcohol before it causes physical damage. Female livers are not only smaller, but are also less resilient and have less ability to recover from damage.

During the last 20 years, the number of women dying from liver disease has increased sevenfold. Once the damage has started, it is irreversible, although the decline can be halted by treatment.

Alcohol is also a major factor in a range of other medical problems, including cancer, heart conditions and dementia and there are other, indirect consequences. One in six women admit to having unsafe sex after drinking too much, while the British Crime Survey showed that young women who regularly drink in pubs and wine bars are three times more likely to be the victims of a violent attack.

Geethika says: "Binge drinking is such a worry because it often has worse short-term consequences. Obviously, if you drink over the recommended intake over a long period of time, you're storing up trouble for the future, but with binge-drinking, people can end up in fights or at the accident and emergency department. You can get yourself into situations where you're not safe."

In the past, women's drinking tended to follow a set pattern, with consumption falling once a woman settled down and had children. These days, women start drinking at an earlier age and professional women are likely to carry on even when they have a family.

The reasons behind the change are complex. One explanation is women's liberation. Women have greater equality and consequently, more disposable income, which they often choose to spend on alcohol. There's a feeling that if men do it, why shouldn't they. And many women, struggling to cope with high pressure jobs, turn to alcohol as a way to relieve stress.

Geethika says: "There has been a significant increase and I think it reflects more broad changes in women's lives over the last 20 or 30 years. More of us are in work than ever before and we have more money in our pockets. We have more access to the sort of social networks that have been male preserves, we go out for drinks after work and it has become much more socially acceptable for women."

In the past, female drinking was frowned upon. The stereotypical female drinker was a lonely, middle-aged woman enjoying a secret tipple at home, but the popularity of ladettes such as Zoe Ball, Sara Cox and Ulrika Jonsson, made it trendy for young women to drink.

And, of course, the drinks industry has played a major role, targeting women with advertising campaigns and producing female-friendly drinks. The alcopops market grew from nothing in 1994 to £300m in less than two years, although it has now levelled out.

"It's not just the ladette culture," explains Geethika. "The industry is much more sophisticated and drinking is portrayed as being part of a luxury lifestyle. Baileys sponsors Sex And The City. That's a very urban, glamorous image that lots of us aspire to."

While society seems more ready to accept the binge-drinkers, the fun-loving young women who go out and get drunk on a Friday night, there is still a stigma attached to those who drink more heavily and this often discourages them from seeking help for alcohol-related problems.

The average age of women attending alcohol treatment agencies is 41 and research shows the pressure is greater for them not to admit to the problem is greater than for men. They're concerned about the impact it will have on their families, and that social services will get involved and their children will be taken away. There are also practical problems of organising time to attend treatment.

Geethika believes the only way to change the situation is via education. "A lot of the coverage about women's drinking can be quite judgmental and that isn't helpful because it engenders a backlash. We should be changing what the debate is about. For me, as a young woman, I want to know what I'm drinking and the impact it can have on me.

"When you think about alcohol, it's always associated with having a good time. It can be, but there are negative consequences as well. We have to take a more balanced view and educate people so they can make an informed choice."