Hospital admissions for alcohol poisoning rose dramatically in the first full year of liberalised drinking laws.

Three binge-drinkers a day were admitted to Brighton and Sussex University Trust hospitals for alcohol poisoning in 2006.

Later opening hours are also being blamed for the increase in the number of people being taken to hospital with potentially fatal levels of alcohol in their blood. Just under 1,000 patients were taken to A&E with alcohol poisoning in 2006, up from 694 in 2005.

Meanwhile dozens of people are going into hospital with alcohol-related liver disease and not coming out alive, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Experts said last night the rise in alcohol poisoning was linked to the introduction of the Licensing Act in November 2005.

Anne Jenkins, head of communications at Alcohol Concern, said: "There are longer opening hours in commercial premises and a lot of off-licences are now opening for much longer."

Ms Jenkins said research seminars on binge-drinking had identified a new phenomenon, which had been reinforced by longer opening hours, whereby young people downed cheaper drinks at home before hitting the town to keep on drinking.

"All of these factors make people drink that much longer, and all the indications are that supermarkets are playing a significant part in that because they sell it that much cheaper."

More than 170 people have died in hospital from alcohol-related conditions in the past three years at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, and Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath. In 2005, 55 people died as a result of alcoholic liver disease and in 2006 it claimed 69 lives.

Experts are warning of a "health time bomb" created by binge drinking.

The British Medical Association said alcoholic drinks needed better labelling and called for a ban on alcohol advertising. A spokeswoman told The Argus: "It is a tragedy that doctors are starting to see serious liver disease in young people because of alcohol - it is also very expensive for the NHS.

"Young people must be made aware that having fun does not have to mean getting drunk three or four times a week. Alcohol is a poison - too much in one go can be lethal, too much week after week kills you more slowly."

Separate figures have revealed that alcohol-related injuries and illnesses have doubled in the past five years.

In Brighton and Hove, the number of people reporting to doctors and casualty with liver cirrhosis, alcohol poisoning and alcohol-induced mental illness rose from 121 to 326 in the five years to 2005.

During the same period, patients reporting alcohol-related injuries and illnesses increased from 844 to 1,308 a year.

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) said: "The recent director of public health's annual report has identified alcoholism as a concern locally.

"The PCT is carrying out work to see how we can best tackle alcoholism and we will then produce and implement an action plan."

Schemes already deployed to take pressure off A&E services include a field hospital set up in West Street, Brighton, over the Christmas period. Volunteers from the Red Cross manned the centre to treat the casualties of binge-drinking.

A Sussex Police report, to be discussed later this week by Brighton and Hove City Council, also reveals "major concerns" about Brighton city centre's binge-drinking culture.

It raises concerns about alcopops, pubs operating until the early hours and a large increase in the number of shops converting all or part of their premises into off-licences.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust was unavailable for comment.