THE dangers of the North-East's heavy drinking culture will be highlighted at a conference next month.

Doctors will warn people who regularly drink to excess that they are storing up health problems for the future.

The conference, held at Sunderland football stadium, will look at plans to improve treatment services.

Figures for binge drinking among men in the North-East are higher than the average for England and the number of people dying of alcohol-related illnesses is increasing.

Hospital admission rates for alcoholic liver disease are significantly higher than in any other region, except the North-West.

Last year, a Department of Health survey found that the North-East had the poorest provision of services for treating people with alcohol problems in the country.

Dr David Walker, acting regional director of public health, said the increase in alcohol consumption and the earlier onset of alcohol-related disease over the past 20 years was "alarming".

The medic will warn that unlike other unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as smoking and obesity, the impact of alcohol abuse is often not recognised by those most at risk.

He said: "At least with smoking the rate is going down, and the dangers of obesity are recognised by individuals, communities and organisations.

"But with alcohol it is still very much the social norm for young people to go out and get drunk - and those who drink heavily do not see it as a problem."

The event will be attended by representatives from local government, the police and community partnerships.

A senior official from the Department of Health will describe how to develop a local programme aimed at improving treatment services.

Mick Davies, manager of the privately run Tunstall Unit, in Sunderland, the region's only specialist detoxification and rehabilitation unit, said the conference was timely.

But he warned that more resources were urgently needed to help seriously ill patients, whose lives often depended on getting access to treatment.