THE full extent of binge drinking amongst East Lancashire's youngsters has been revealed - after 60 per cent of 15 and 16-year-olds admitted abusing alcohol.

Health chiefs said the figures should prompt parents to educate youngsters about the dangers of drink in the wake of the death of a spate of alcohol related assaults across the country.

And the call came as Cheshire chief constable Peter Fahy is leading calls for a ban on drinking in public areas outdoors to combat underage alcohol abuse - after three boys were charged with the murder of a father-of-three in Warrington.

The figures were compiled following a trading standards investigation conducted among 15 and 16-year-olds in Blackburn and Darwen, although health chiefs say they mirror the situation across East Lancashire.

While often the youngsters said they bought alcohol in pubs, clubs and off licences, a significant proportion said they relied on parents, older friends and other adults to purchase their illegal lager and alcopops.

Many underage drinkers are spending more than £20 per week on illicit boozing sessions, the joint Blackburn with Darwen council and Trading Standards North West survey discovered.

But the financial price was not always the heaviest they had paid.

Around 15 per cent of youngsters admitted that they had regretted having sex with someone after they had been drinking.

A similar proportion also confessed to getting into a car with another underage drinker while drunk.

Around 35 per cent said they had been violent after drinking.

Nearly four out of 10 young girls are drinking more than the recommended weekly units for females.

Dr Mike Leaf, public health director for Blackburn with Darwen, said: "Generally there is a growing problem around alcohol consumption, particularly binge drinking and young people.

"I think we have a situation where alcohol is more readily available and cheaper than it has been previously.

"Parents have a role to play in making young people aware of the dangers of alcohol, and be aware themselves of its accessibility.

"The important thing is for parents to have an open relationship with their children and discuss some of these things in a mature way.

"Parents should recognise that there are going to be these pressures on young people (to drink) as that is part of the society we live in."

The borough's primary care trust is promoting a new strategy on underage drinking, working closely with trading standards to target rogue shopkeepers who sell alcohol to young people.

Blackburn with Darwen's problem with young drinking is broadly the same as the north west average, according to the report.

Nearly 800 people took part in the survey. Thirty per cent claimed not to drink at all, a figure far higher than the north-west average of 17 per cent.

According to the North West Public Health Observatory, Blackburn with Darwen is ranked among the worst local authorities for alcohol-related hospital admissions for young men and women.

One drinker, aged 16, from Haslingden, said: "One of my friends was really badly bottled when they were out drinking in the park with their mates.

"She was really hurt but when she went to the hospital they didn't want anything to do with her because she was so young and it was all drink-related.

"Another friend of mine was only 15 and she got drunk and ended up having sex at a house party with a boy she hardly knew."

Chris Allen, the borough council's trading standards head, said: "The council takes a robust line on preventing the sale of alcohol to under age young people.

"We regularly do test purchases and covert observations to detect these sales. People who sell alcohol to under 18s can be fined by the courts and have their license to sell revoked or suspended by the council's licensing committee.

"We suspended a number of licences earlier this year for that reason."

Dr Ellis Friedman, public health director for Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, said: "In broad terms the picture for Lancashire, and East Lancashire, in particular, is not good, particularly in terms of increased drinking, and binge drinking.

"Alcohol causes a lot of ill-health problems - like in the short term with people becoming disinhibited as a result of drinking and we are seeing more cirrhosis cases later in life as a result of drinking from an earlier age.