A&E admissions in Swindon caused by alcohol-related liver disease have doubled in five years.

Figures from NHS England show the emergency admission rate has risen from 23 for every 100,000 people to 49 in 2017.

Emergency departments treated almost 90 patients from Swindon last year.

Nationally, numbers have increased.

Prof Roger Williams, director of the Institute of Hepatology, said the statistics for England were horrifying and proposed setting a minimum price per unit of alcohol to curb drinking.

He added:"Liver disease is the only exception to the improvement over the past years in life expectancy for chronic disorders such as strokes, heart disease and many cancers. Mortality rates have increased by about 600 per cent in the last 50 years.

"That happens because alcohol consumption among the population has increased and this is linked to the fact that the costs of alcoholic drinks proportionally have fallen.

"Setting a minimum alcohol price is a highly effective way of dealing with the problem."

Scotland adopted a minimum price in May, setting a 50 pence minimum price per unit of alcohol. Certain states of the USA, Russia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have implemented similar policies over the last years.

Judi Rhys, CEO of the British Liver trust, called on GPs to improve their awareness of the risk of factors.

She said: "Liver disease is a silent killer because there are often no obvious symptoms in the early stages. We know that at the moment three quarters of people are diagnosed in a hospital setting when the condition is quite advanced."

In 2014, the Lancet Commission estimated alcohol-related health problems cost the NHS £3.5bn a year.