UNDERAGE binge drinking has led to a 55% increase in the number of young people in Glasgow being admitted to hospital for serious liver disease.

Figures obtained by the Evening Times show alcohol-related liver damage is becoming increasingly common in the city amongst those aged under 30.

We can reveal the number of hospital admissions in this age group has continued to rise over the last three years.

In 2010/11, 11 people aged between 25 and 29 were admitted to hospitals in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area for alcohol-related liver disease.

A year later the figure had risen to 15, while in 2012/13 the number of admissions had grown to 17, according to health board figures.

Shockingly, three of these patients were aged between 20 and 24.

The figures, released under Freedom Of Infor­mation laws, reveal the deadly disease is not limited to people with decades of drinking under their belt.

Dr Evelyn Gillan, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, a charity working to reduce the harm caused by booze, said: "It is really worrying that Glaswegians in their twenties are needing hospital treatment for liver damage caused by alcohol.

"Increasing the price of the cheapest, strongest drinks through minimum unit pricing will have the biggest effect on harmful drinkers who are most at risk of alcohol-related illnesses, such as liver damage."

Scottish Government ministers want to bring in a minimum pricing of alcohol policy to the country.

The plan, which would set a minimum price of 50p per unit, would mean the cheapest bottle of wine at 12.5% alcohol would cost £4.69, a bottle of vodka £13.13, strong cider £7.50 for two litres and strong lager £1.98 a can.

Dr Gillan added: "The sooner minimum pricing is introduced, the sooner we will see the health and social benefits."

It is feared many of the young people suffering from booze-related liver disease are "everyday drinkers" rather than alcoholics.

Over time, drinking alcohol every day leads to the liver becoming fatty, inflamed and, in the most serious cases, incurably scarred.

In the 1970s, cirrhosis claimed about 1200 lives a year in the UK.

However, by 2010 the toll was 5000 - and rising.

Andrew Langford, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, a national charity, said: "What we know is that 30 years ago it was very unusual to see someone in their twenties with liver cirrhosis.

"Now it is quite common for liver units to have young people in their twenties dying of liver disease because they started drinking so early.

"That has really affected the average age of death from any liver disease. It is now 57 years, when it used to be in the high 60s.

"The earlier someone starts drinking to excess, the worse it is because their livers are immature.

"Alcohol will damage all our livers, but if young people are drinking to excess at 11, 12 or 13 years old, then that really is storing up a real disaster."

As reported by the Evening Times earlier this month, Glasgow City Council licensing bosses and senior doctors want to stop any more breakfast pubs opening in the city.

A new policy could be in place by the end of the month.

More than 1000 people were picked up for being drunk and incapable in the city between March last year and the same month this year.

Increasingly, health experts argue that cutting the availability of drink, including opening hours, reduces harmful drinking.

In the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, 15 people aged 25-29 were admitted to hospital for alcohol-related liver disease in 2009/10. Another three patients under the age of 25 received hospital treatment that year for the same thing.

Speaking at a conference held by the charity Alcohol Concern earlier this month, Professor Ian Gilmore described the increase in deaths from liver disease as "meteoric".

Sir Ian, a leading expert on liver disease, said: "It is tragic to see young people coming into hospital and dying of alcohol-related liver disease.

"Liver specialists are seeing people as young as in their 20s dying due to alcohol.

"We could see up to a quarter of a million preventable deaths from liver disease in the next 20 years."

rebecca.gray@eveningtimes.co.uk