YOUNG women are putting their health at risk and turning East Lancashire into one of the worst heavy drinking hotspots for Lad-ettes in the country.

Counselling services across the area today revealed they were seeing around 30 per cent more women in their late teens and early 20s with drink and associated health problems than they were just five years ago. National figures from Alcohol Concern show around 15 per cent of young women are drinking between 15 to 25 units a week, when the national recommended limit is 14 -- the equivalent of about seven pints of lager.

And, although there are no exact local statistics, counsellors believe local figures are double the national average -- with some women regularly exceeding their weekly limit in one night.

They are warning that women must cut down on their drinking to avoid serious health problems, including cirrhosis of the liver.

The message in the run-up to the Christmas party season comes in response to the Government's report On the State of the Public Heath, by chief medical officer Professor Liam Donaldson.

The report, which showed that the deadly liver condition is now killing more women than cervical cancer, recommended health warnings on bottles.

In the year ending April 2001, East Lancashire's Alcohol Service, based in Blackburn, saw 818 new clients, 310 of whom were women and 103 of whom were under 25.

It said reasons for the rise include marketing of drinks towards young women, who have more disposable income than in the past, while East Lancashire has traditionally been a hard-drinking area due to social deprivation and poverty.

The figures come just weeks after a Burnley Crown Court judge spoke out about the increasing level of alcohol-fuelled violence in East Lancashire.

After Judge Raymond Bennett's comments it emerged that around 40 per cent of attendances at A & E across Blackburn and Burnley -- between 10 and 12,000 -- are alcohol related, compared with 12 to 20 per cent nationally.

John Payne, from East Lancashire's Alcohol Service, covering Blackburn, Darwen, Accrington and the Ribble Valley, said: "When I say young women, I mean anything from 13 up to about 25.

"There has been quite a move in the last 20 years where women have taken on the macho image of going out on Friday or Saturday to get intoxicated. "

He said staff were bracing themselves for an influx of people needing help for alcohol problems in the aftermath of Christmas, as in most years.

"People don't like to admit they have a problem over the Christmas period, because it is a very vulnerable time for a lot of people. But a couple of weeks after Christmas is when people wake up to the fact that they have got problems and they have got to do something about it."

He said research showed a drinking culture which saw drinking among young women as a "bonding" exercise in a group, while drinking among men as competitive.

Blackburn night club owner Margot Grimshaw said the level of drinking in young women was something that worried her.

She said: "I think that all the drinks are targeted at young people now. And they are very strong drinks too. There is no medium.

"Nobody gets a half a mild, they are always on the very strong Vodka-based drinks.

"I know it is against my trade to say this but it is frightening that they are drinking such strong drinks. Girls do not come out to have a quiet drink. They come out to get merry, and probably a lot more! We are creating a problem for ourselves.

"I think it is also a peer pressure thing. Girls go out in groups now, and many young people are drinking together.

Guidelines for safe drinking over the festive period.

Make sure you do not drink on an empty stomach

Try to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration

You are more likely to suffer ill effects if you mix your drinks

Never drink and drive, organise transport in advance

Remember to show children how to drink sensibly and in moderation