Around 130 youngsters in the county are being treated for alcohol addiction - even though they're not old enough to buy a drink.

The shocking figures reveal the full scale of Kent and Medway's alcohol problems.

Of those, more than 50 children aged between 14 and 15 are getting treatment for alcohol dependency.

It comes after Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch raised the issue in the House of Commons.

But the picture could be even worse: to protect the identity of 12 to 13-year-olds totals haven't been given, but they're likely to be five or under.

The figures relate to the financial year 2010-11 and were provided by the National Treatment Agency.

Tom Smith, head of youth policy at Alcohol Concern, says the worrying number is down to a number of factors, most recently rising youth unemployment.

He added: "Clearly it’s a very difficult time to be a young person today - job prospects are difficult there’s threat of cuts to youth services and support mechanisms.

“What we fear is that when these mechanisms are cut there is a risk that young people turn to alcohol.

“Obviously there’s youth unemployment - alcohol is available at pocket money prices and young people are particular price sensitive as they have less money and alcohol is particularly affordable to them.

“We live in a society that’s saturated in pro-alcohol messages and we think this contributes to a general culture of acceptance and promotion of alcohol in society and that’s reflected in young people's thinking.”

Treatment for young people differs from adults as very few develop dependency, according to the research group.

But for most teenagers there's a lot of hope: with the help of family and a short spurt of treatment, most can move on with the help of a care plan.

Mr Smith adds: “At its most serious there are a range of drugs to help young people manage and come off their addiction.

"Less serious cases involve a programme of interventions that focus on changing behaviours.”