Doubles all round: As York goes to the races, Britain's drinking habits are revealed

The World Health Organisation said worldwide level of alcohol consumption in people aged over 15 was 6.4 litres last year, compared with 12.3 litres here - a figure that puts the UK on a par with Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia.

Only 11 other countries - most in Eastern Europe but also including Belgium - reported higher levels of consumption.

Rachel Clark, at the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “It is incredibly worrying that Brits are drinking almost double the global average of alcohol.

“Alcohol is highly dangerous and increases the risk of many different health conditions including several cancers.

“If no one drank alcohol in the UK around 24,000 cancer cases could be prevented every year.”

She added: “People should drink no more than the government’s recommended limit of 14 units a week, which is roughly equal to seven drinks, spread over at least three days.”

The figures put the drinks industry on the defensive. Sarah Hanatty, deputy chief executive of the Portman Group, the social responsibility body for alcohol producers in the UK, said consumption had fallen by nearly a litre in the last 10 years.

She added: “More importantly, harmful patterns of consumption have been falling for over a decade. This good progress is all too often overlooked.”

Dave Roberts, of the industry-funded Alcohol Information Partnership, said: “While there remain some people that may need to review their drinking habits and others that need targeted support to tackle dependency, the general trend is for British people to have a moderate and mature relationship with alcohol.”

The figures were released as one Yorkshire police force put extra support officers on the ground to deal with expected drunkenness from some racegoers who leave their dignity behind with their stake money at the Dante Festival in York.

Neighbours have complained in the past of revellers playing loud music and even urinating as they stagger from the County Stand at the racecourse.

Mrs Sylvia Magin, whose house on Knavesmire Crescent is within sight of the stand, said: “It’s mostly drink-related.

“The police don’t seem to block the road off early enough, so you get people staggering to the butcher’s for hot pies and sandwiches, then you hear kids busking, with drums and guitars.”

North Yorkshire Police said resources at the three-day Dante Festival, which continues today and tomorrow, would be “the same as previous years, based on demand”.

A spokesman said: “There will also be extra local neighbourhood policing team officers and PCSOs in the area on race days to keep anti-social behaviour to a minimum and to provide reassurance”.

Last week, a man whose 28 year-old son whose son suffered a fractured skull in an unprovoked attack on a street in York said the city centre had taken on the appearance of “Ibiza of Magaluf on a weekend”.

The man, who has not been named, said: “Why can’t we have CCTV cameras pointing down every street in York, paid for by these bars. Why not make them pay for our safety? Why can’t a dedicated team of police officers go around bars every weekend, two or three days a week?”

Two men have been arrested in connection with the attack and a linked incident in the city centre.