Britons are drinking themselves to an early grave at a sharply increasing rate, a pan-European comparison of deaths from liver cirrhosis confirms today.

Mortality from the commonly drink-related disease soared during the 1980s and 1990s with rates for men doubling in Scotland and rising by two-thirds in England and Wales. Those for women went up by about half in the same period.

Alcohol consumption in Britain doubled between 1960 and 2002, while the Office for National Statistics said all alcohol-linked deaths rose in England and Wales from 2,575 in 1980 to 6,614 in 2004. Most are linked to chronic liver disease including cirrhosis. The new comparison of figures for England and Wales and Scotland with 12 other European countries, published in the Lancet medical journal, provides a sobering addition to mounting evidence of the growing public health threat from too much boozing.

Researchers behind the study, David Leon, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Jim McCambridge, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, suggested the problem was growing rapidly among beer and spirit-loving nations even as it subsides among largely wine-drinking populations. Although some countries still had high rates of cirrhosis deaths, several had shown drops of 25-30% among some groups since the 1970s. An accompanying article by Robin Room of Stockholm University blamed the UK government for "official insouciance" on the issue.

Professor Room said: "While beverage type ... and pattern of drinking might both affect the risk of developing cirrhosis, there is no doubt that the cumulative amount of alcohol consumed has a primary role. But the UK government has turned a determined blind eye to the problem and has failed to make the reduction of the population's alcohol intake a policy goal. Through the new alcohol licensing law and the official guidance on it, the national government has also done its best to tie the hands of local government on this issue."

Cirrhosis, caused by thickening of the normal tissue, can be triggered by viral infection but excess alcohol is the main culprit. Professor Leon and Dr McCambridge analysed data from a World Health Organisation database. In the 1950s, England and Wales had very low rates of liver cirrhosis deaths - for men 3.4 per 100,000 each year and for women 2.2.

Scotland had higher rates - 8.2 and 6.1 - but still low in comparison with other countries. By 2001 rates in England and Wales were 14.1 for men and 7.7 for women. In Scotland, the rates were 34.4 deaths per 100,000 per year among men and 16.1 for women. The authors said: "Although Britain used to have some of the lowest cirrhosis rates in Europe, the advantage has been rapidly eroded, Scotland in particular now has some of the highest rates in western Europe. Although absolute rates in England and Wales remain relatively low, in the most recent years they have risen sharply and are now on a par or have exceeded the western European average."

They added: "This acceleration of the longer term trend in liver cirrhosis mortality rates across Britain is extremely worrying and needs to be addressed."

The Department of Health said it was concerned about the number of people suffering from liver disease because of alcohol abuse and it was committed to reducing the harm from drink. A spokeswoman said: "We are already investing heavily in services for people with alcohol problems. The research in the Lancet was undertaken before the new licensing laws came in. The new laws are just one part of the solution. Through the development of a more civilised approach to drinking and the tougher powers to tackle badly run premises, there should be a positive impact on health."

Alcohol Concern said excessive drinking was linked to 22,000 deaths a year, more than the official statistics revealed. Lesley King-Lewis, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said: "Liver cirrhosis is just one of the many harmful consequences of drinking too much. Alcohol is responsible for nearly 100 conditions including impotence, psoriasis and heart disease. We are concerned that the introduction of the new licensing laws will only exacerbate the problem, and encourage Britons to drink more."

Three measures were needed to help change Britons' drinking habits - a worker in every hospital to help patients combat alcohol abuse, drink taxes based on the percentage of alcohol, and proper research to see how effective warning labels on drinks really were.