NO longer are the girls content to leave drinking binges to the lads.Beered-up Big Brother victor Kate Lawler unwittingly acted out the trend of a nation as she staggered drunkenly around the house, eyes glazed and body barely coordinated.

NO longer are the girls content to leave drinking binges to the lads.

Beered-up Big Brother victor Kate Lawler unwittingly acted out the trend of a nation as she staggered drunkenly around the house, eyes glazed and body barely coordinated.

Today the Evening Star shows how summer nights in Suffolk will bring thousands of young women flocking to pubs - proudly proclaiming themselves 'ladettes,' and downing enough alcohol to rival the lads.

But as they plump for a pint instead of a glass of wine these days, drug and alcohol advisors who've seen the cost paid all too often are getting worried.

They've seen A&E staff bear the brunt of drunkards' violence.

They've known people to die from alcoholism, and heard the age group for liver damage has reduced from the mid 40s to the early 30s, while women don't stop to think they are harming themselves.

They are now witnessing the new trend for women to get drunk, and fast, by consuming vast quantities of very strong drink in a short time.

With a lower tolerance to alcohol than men, the average ladette is still downing more than 12 units of alcohol a week – that's 66 per cent up on her consumption a decade ago. In contrast, men's drinking has only increased by 25 per cent.

The situation has now reached such a crisis point, that help groups around the county are desperately crying out for support in an effort to stem the tide.