Urgent warning over drinking 'pandemic' as deaths hit record high

EXPERT SAYS ALCOHOL CULTURE HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS

- By RHIANNON DUNBAR

AN EXPERT has warned of a growing 'pandemic' of alcohol-related deaths in Nottinghamshire, as fatalities from drinking reach a record high.

The data, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), reveals that there were 191 alcohol-specific deaths in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire during 2023. This is a 67.5 per cent increase over the span of ten years, with 114 deaths caused by alcohol recorded in 2013.

Kieran Grant, the alcohol pathway lead for Nottingham Recovery Network (NRN), believes the spike in deaths is at a catastrophic level. He said: "It is a pandemic. There's an alcohol crisis and there’s a drug-related crisis as well, so more and more people in the UK are dying and they shouldn't be."