EAST Lancashire men are drinking themselves to an early death, shock figures have revealed.

An in-depth assessment of drinking culture across the country has found some men in the area are reducing their lives by an average of 15 months through excessive drinking.

Alcohol-related deaths among Blackburn and Darwen men put the borough in the worst five in the country.

Figures also reveal massive drinking problems in Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale, though the Ribble Valley comes in better than the national average.

In Blackburn with Darwen, 35 out of every 100,000 men die from chronic liver disease, placing it 352nd out of the 354 authorities studied, with Burnley at 351.

Blackburn with Darwen is ranked 351st and 336th for alcohol-attributable death in men and women respectively, while Burnley is listed as 341st for men and 224th for women.

Women generally do better than men, but are still ranked among the worst in the country for deaths and illness relating to alcohol. Rates of under-18s being admitted to hospital through drink are also high across East Lancashire.

Blackburn with Darwen council leader Colin Rigby said the problems were down to lack of education, good housing and other social problems, and that it would be a hard battle to beat the booze. He said: "The tragedy of it is that it is all wrapped up in so many other issues which are very difficult to solve. We are aware of them and we are finding as many solutions as we can, and implementing them, but it is very difficult."

The East Lancashire Primary Care Trust has promised major improve-ments under its new four-year "wellbeing and health equality" plan to tackle ill-health, and pledged to crack down on alcohol problems. A spokesman said: "We already have plans, includ-ing campaigns to encourage people to drink sensibly and in moderation."

Chris Hill, service manager at Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale alcohol and drug services said a whole range of social problems needed to be tackled to stop the rot.

She said: "Since April we have had just over 250 new referrals to the service, and the reality is that this is just the tip of the iceberg - many more do not seek help." Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle said: "If people could see how distressing it is to families when people die young I'm sure they would think twice and try to stop, and we want to help them do that."

Alcohol-related deaths among men are high in Pendle, at 54 per 100,000, ranking Pendle at 239 .

In Rossendale, alcohol-related deaths are similar but in Hyndburn male alcohol-attributable deaths place the borough at 337th.