Belfast is UK's 'booziest city'

People in Belfast will spend almost £50,000 on alcohol

Belfast is home to the "biggest boozers" in the UK, according to new research.

A survey says that people living in Northern Ireland's capital will, on average, spend £47,568 on alcohol in their lifetime.

The survey, by alcohol rehabilitation website www.pcpluton.com, said the student town of Cambridge came out second in the tipsy town tally.

There, people will spend £40,939 on booze between birth and death.

Falling in behind Belfast and Cambridge are Leeds, Leicester and Manchester.

Top Ten Boozy Cities 1 Belfast 2 Cambridge 3 Leeds 4 Leicester 5 Manchester 6 London 7 Sheffield 8 Bristol 9 Aberdeen 10 Cardiff

Another of its findings was that one in 10 people in the UK will have had their first taste of alcohol by their tenth birthday.

Furthermore, while 14% of people considered themselves to be binge drinkers only 8% are actually worried about it.

Darren Rolfe of www.pcpluton.com, which has worked with people from Northern Ireland, said: "It is quite scary to see how much is literally being poured down the drain, and how young some people are when they start drinking.

"Those who find long lasting recovery from addiction discover much better and more productive ways to spend their hard earned cash."

Northern Ireland was also top of the survey's regions poll, coming out ahead of the North West and London.