Caroline Eardley, 29, classes herself as a social drinker, who drinks no more than other people she knows, so she was shocked when she saw her total.

“When I wrote down the amount, I was like ‘woah that is a lot’.

“But I don’t know anyone my age who sticks to 14 units a week.”

Caroline, who works in PR in London, added: “I have a good job, I have no problems at work so I think so long as I am dealing with the day-to-day I will deal with the future.

“You think, I’m not caning it every night so what damage can it be doing?”

But Dr Dave Tomson, a Tyneside GP who works in alcohol services, said Caroline’s drinking was “hazardous” and bordering on the “harmful and risky”.

“The risks for Caroline, at the rates she is currently drinking, are what could happen to her after she has drunk 20 units.

“They might be very simple risks such as falling over and twisting her ankle, or doing her back in, or driving while drinking. And if this drinking level is a pattern she could also face relationship difficulties.

“If she sustained this pattern of drinking she would gradually get early problems such as weight gain. She is drinking at least two extra meals a week.”

But he warned there were also long-term risks, which young drinkers like Caroline often ignore.

“Over time Caroline faces rises in blood pressure both acute and chronic rises in cholesterol and a fatty liver. She will eventually increase her risk of heart disease, liver disease and stroke,” he said.

“She will also have an increased risk of breast cancer. Mouth throat and oesophageal cancers are rare, but she will increase her risk of them.

‘I’ll stop when I’m older’

Caroline said she might now alternate alcoholic and soft drinks when she is out.

“I always used to think if I had two or three days where I did not drink at all it cancelled out the badness.

I think at the moment I am being a bit hedonistic
Caroline Eardley

Caroline’s mother and both her grandmothers have had breast cancer, and Caroline said the increased risk linked to drinking was “scary”.

But she said: “The thing that scared me the most was the extra calories, because I would never eat two extra meals.

“This has made me pay more attention to what I drink, but I don’t know whether it will make me change and that is a scary thing.

“When I have children and get older I know my drinking will stop.

“I think at the moment I am being a bit hedonistic.”