More than 4,000 people in Sussex were given urgent treatment for booze-related illnesses last year - up nearly a third from the previous year.

Department of Health figures show 4,246 people were admitted to accident and emergency wards with alcohol-related problems in 2005/6.

That represents a 28 per cent increase on the 3,320 treated in 2004/5.

The figures, broken down by former Primary Care Trust areas, show Brighton and Hove was responsible for the highest number of drink-problem patients of any trust in the county.

The number of people in the city given emergency treatment rose from 928 in 2004/5 to 1,034 last year - an increase of 11 per cent.

Hastings and St Leonards recorded a doubling of cases - from 257 to 510 over the same period.

The only area to show a fall in admissions, from 648 to 637, was Western Sussex, covering Chichester, Bognor and Arundel.

The figures refer to the number of people admitted to A&E departments with "alcohol-related diagnoses", which include alcoholic liver disease, the toxic effect of alcohol and mental and behavioural disorder due to the use of alcohol.

They do not include physical injuries, such as bottle or knife wounds, caused by violent drunken behaviour.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the figures revealed a "shocking" rise in the effects of alcohol abuse.

He said: "This is a dreadful toll upon those affected and a great burden on our NHS. We have to reverse this.

"Social responsibility demands we take responsibility for alcohol use and understand that all of us must recognise the damage to ourselves and the NHS from excess."

Nationally, the number of people taken to hospital with alcohol-related illnesses annually has doubled since 1997 - the year Prime Minister Tony Blair came to power.

The statistics show that 148,477 patients were treated at A&E wards for booze-related illnesses last year, compared with 75,863 in 1997.