DEATHS from drinking alcohol have soared by 28 per cent in four years across the North-East - even before the controversial extension of pub hours.

A total of 430 people died from conditions such as liver disease and alcohol poisoning last year, compared to 335 back in 2000.

The increase was even greater in Yorkshire and the Humber - a rise of 46.5 per cent, from 428 to 627, according to the National Statistics figures.

Experts said the rise had been fuelled by more binge drinking, which had left people in their 20s and 30s with liver disease - something traditionally found in the middle-aged and elderly.

Opposition parties at Westminster leapt on the figures as fresh evidence that the Government was wrong to allow pubs to stay open past 11pm from November.

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat crime spokeswoman, said: "The Government must address the underlying reasons why people are literally drinking themselves to death."

Across England and Wales, there were 6,544 deaths where alcohol was the primary cause last year, compared to 5,525 in 2000.

The figures were revealed yesterday in answer to a parliamentary question tabled by the Liberal Democrats.

Yesterday, a panel of parliamentary experts said binge drinking was a "distinctive characteristic of the British drinking culture" and that research from similar countries suggested extended hours would worsen the problem.