Alcohol abuse puts strain on services and community

Alcohol might be cheap, but in Swindon it is costing 80 people a year their lives and the town £66m a year.

Figures released yesterday, ahead of the Swindon Community Safety Partnership's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy, a joint authority initiative to combat alcohol abuse, reveal the strain on all our services being fuelled by drink.

Alcohol is related to 30 per cent of violent crime in Swindon town centre, directly related to 20 per cent of accident and emergency admissions and leads to 10 per cent of the town's people requiring some sort of sustained care.

The £66m cost to the town is calculated by costs attributed by the Government to different types of alcohol related incidents based on an estimate, while the 80 deaths recorded are illness-related only, such as liver damage.

Richard Palusinski, head of community safety for the Community Safety Partnership, said that education was a key concern in changing drinking habits.

He said: "We're saying if you want to try alcohol or drink alcohol you need to be aware of what you are playing with and do it in a way that's safe.

"I don't think you can say it's a class or group problem . Everybody is at risk, which is why the education message is so important."

The partnership comprises Swindon Council, the police, Swindon Primary Care Trust (PCT), the fire and rescue service and probation.

They will meet today for the launch of the Swindon Community Safety Partnership's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.

The aim is to pool their resources and work together in order to combat some of the latest statistics.

In response to the issue of violence in the town centre, Chief Supt Paul Howlett, of Swindon police, said: "Swindon town centre is no different from any other town centre in the country. There is a clear link between alcohol and violence and our local crime statistics would seem to support this.

"Fifty-nine per cent of town centre violence takes place between 10pm and 4am, principally on Friday and Saturday nights in the Fleet Street and Bridge Street area."

He added that Swindon police were actively working in partnership with Swindon Council and licensees to regulate and encourage a more responsible consumption of alcohol.

"Swindon is a safe place to be and we want to keep it that way," said Chief Supt Howlett.

"It's important that people feel they are able to enjoy a great night out in Swindon town centre, free from harm or any other intimidation.

The cause of these problems seems to be the irresponsible consumption of alcohol and through the launch of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy we will be confronting this issue on a number of fronts with the Community Safety Partnership. "

The strategy features four strands - prevention through education, identification and treatment, tackling crime and disorder and working with the alcohol industry.

It has been commended by national charity Alcohol Concern and is the first strategy to receive a Kitemark.

Mr Palusinski said that education was already a high priority of the partnership, which has done theatre performances in schools and is working to stop alcohol advertising on school buses.

Mr Palusinski said: "I don't think that we're significantly worse or better than other towns.

"This is something that's not going to change overnight. It's something we're going to have to work to stop over three years."

Wiltshire Gazette and Herald