The north-west is the area of England worst affected by excessive drinking, research published today shows.

Manchester has the highest level of harm linked to alcohol consumption when a range of factors such as hospital admissions, early deaths and crime are taken into consideration, the study by the north-west Public Health Observatory found.

Seven out of the 10 worst affected areas in 2006-07 were in the north-west, including Salford, Liverpool, Oldham and Rochdale, the study, Local Alcohol Profiles for England, found.

Alison Giles, director of Our Life, a campaign group for alcohol awareness in the north-west, said high levels of social deprivation and large numbers of off licenses were to blame for the region's poor showing in the survey.

She said: "We know that in places like Blackpool and Warrington there is a high density of licensed premises, which contributes to the high levels of alcohol consumption and anti-social behaviour."

Wokingham in Berkshire had the lowest level of harm linked to alcohol consumption in the country.

There were around 800,000 hospital admissions in England linked to alcohol in 2006-07 – up 9% on the previous year. This equates to an extra 174 admissions every day.

Professor Mark Bellis, director of the north-west Public Health Observatory, said: "Rises in alcohol-related health problems reflect not only weekend binge drinking but also how use of alcohol on a nightly basis continues to erode our health.

"Further increases in alcohol problems are in store if we continue to focus on the symptoms of alcohol misuse, like night life violence and ill health, but ignore the causes such as cheap alcohol and a lack of recognition that alcohol is a dangerous drug."

Top 10 areas with the highest levels of harm

Manchester

Salford

Liverpool

Middlesbrough

Rochdale

Hammersmith and Fulham

Kingston-upon-Hull

Halton

Tameside

Oldham

Top 10 areas with the lowest levels of harm

Wokingham

Mid Bedfordshire

Three Rivers

Castle Point

North Kesteven

South Northamptonshire

Sevenoaks

East Dorset

Broadland

South Norfolk