Kent has more hospital admissions for alcohol than anywhere else in the South East, shocking figures out today reveal.

In fact, Kent and Medway health authorities combined saw four times as many drinkers being admitted for treatment than the average in the region.

Between 2010-11 Kent saw 236,736 people admitted for drinking too much, with Medway notching up 41,356 admissions. That compares with the regional average of 70,574.

The findings can be found on UK's first booze abuse map, which breaks down alcohol abuse by local authority, gender and age group.

It shows our county also saw four times the number of alcohol-related deaths in 2009, compared with the average for the rest of the region.

But the shocking figures from Alcohol Concern also reveal it's not the teenage lager lout that is the worst culprit for excessive drinking.

In the Kent health authority 1,487 people were admitted as in-patients during the qualifying period, with those aged 55-74 working out at 11,340. Even more shocking is that a staggering 1,229 pensioners aged over 75 were admitted for in-patient treatment.

In Medway, the figures for 16-24-year-olds were 308 in-patient admissions; 2,067 for those aged 55-74 and 1,229 for drinkers aged over 74.

All told, the toll on the public purse for dealing with alcohol admissions was a sobering £97m for Kent and Medway in 2010-11.

Speaking about the figures, the chief executive of Kent-based alcohol charity Kenward Trust, Angela Painter, said it was difficult to interpret the figures, but they looked "pretty horrific".

She was most concerned about the level of admissions in the 55 to 74 age group.

She said: "There may be other social factors here: whether it's loneliness, isolation or events. Alcohol is an acceptable form of self-medication.

"There is a major public health issue that we need to address."

She said one of the ways to do this was to catch it early - through community workers, social workers and even the person's carer.

But general alcohol abuse became worse in difficult times.

Ms Painter said: "You see it often when there's an economic recession and rising unemployment, and because it's culturally acceptable and relatively cheap to buy."

Anyone who needs help with alcohol addiction can contact theKenward Trust on 01622 814187 or 07990 741266.

To see the figures in full, which show breakdowns between women and men, ages, areas and costs, click on this link.