Experts call for cuts to licensed premises

Health experts have called for the number of premises with alcohol licenses in Scotland to be cut following new research into alcohol-related deaths and illnesses.

Health experts have called for a reduction in the number of licensed premises in Scotland

According to STV News, researchers at Glasgow and Edinburgh universities found that alcohol-related deaths were higher in areas with more licenses outlets.

The team conducted a study which showed alcohol-related deaths in places with the most licensed outlets were more than double those with the fewest.

They looked at 6505 neighbourhoods and compared the number of licenses premises in each with the amount of alcohol-related hospital admissions and deaths recorded there.

Having examined the figures, researchers found there had been 34 alcohol-related deaths for every 100,000 people in areas with the most licensed premises, compared with 13 per 100,000 in the areas with the fewest.

Dr Elizabeth Richardson, from the Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health at the University of Edinburgh, told STV News: “The strong relationship we found between alcohol outlets and related health outcomes leads us to suggest that reducing outlet numbers, particularly in the highest availability neighbourhoods, could have health benefits for the Scottish population.”

Richardson added that to date the role of local licensed-premises in excessive drinking had been paid little attention, but that this was a “serious oversight”.

The research was commissioned by the Alcohol Focus Scotland charity.