Britain has eight million problem drinkers

A national ban on drinking in the street should be introduced to help defeat the binge-drinking culture, senior doctors will say next week.

Laws to increase the legal age for buying alcohol to 21 - except in pubs and hotels - and increases in tax on alcohol and advertising restrictions will also be proposed.

Delegates at the British Medical Association's annual conference will debate the suggestions on Tuesday.

There are already restrictions on drinking in the street in some parts of the country after councils were given powers in 2001 to designate public areas in which it is an offence to consume alcohol if asked not to do so by a police officer.

The BMA motion calls for total national prohibition.

This follows growing concern about the impact of binge drinking on the nation's health and the financial implications for the NHS and the taxpayer of alcohol-related disease.

A Government report this month to accompany its new alcohol strategy suggested that Britain has eight million problem drinkers. Liver disease is the fastest growing illness and hospital admissions have doubled in the past decade.

Dr Christopher Spencer Jones, the chairman of the BMA's public health committee, said yesterday: "Drinking alcohol in public gives a message that it is just as normal as any other drink. It is not, it is a mind-altering drug that causes people to fail to address risks.

"It can lead people to drive dangerously, have sex without a condom leading to unwanted pregnancies and make someone punch somebody and land them in court.

"We should stop having alcohol for sale in supermarkets alongside foodstuffs. If you had different doors and cash desks for alcohol in supermarkets, you would be signalling alcohol is not a safe foodstuff.

"If you put it in a different environment you can have messages around safe and responsible drinking."

The proposals to be debated next week include making taxes on alcohol proportionate to alcoholic content and an end to alcohol advertising being considered a business expense deductible from tax.

Last week, the BMA hospital doctors' conference called for laws to prevent people under 21 buying alcohol in supermarkets, off-licences and shops.

Dr Sally Winning, a psychiatrist and chairman of the BMA Scottish staff and associate specialists committee, said: "We don't want youngsters drinking on street corners.

"There is evidence to suggest that responsible drinking and education at a young age helps to promote healthy drinking habits. At 18 you probably haven't learnt your limit on drink. It has to be done in a staged and sensible way."

Telegraph.co.uk