Kingston youngsters are among the worst binge drinkers in London and children as young as 11 are regularly being admitted to hospital for alcohol poisoning, figures reveal.

They show 39 11 to 15-year-olds from Kingston and Richmond were admitted to Kingston Hospital's accident and emergency department from 2002 to 2003 more than three a month and the second highest figure in London.

The number is actually a drop from the year before when there were 47 A&E admissions for binge drinking among the age group. Between 2000 and 2001 there were 45.

The problem is most acute in suburban boroughs and the only area in London with higher hospital admission rates was that bound by the now defunct Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Health Authority.

Helen Terry, who runs youth outreach projects in Kingston, said alcohol is becoming more of an issue and more young people are now drinking than smoking cannabis.

"Drinking is a big problem we've identified, particularly on Friday nights. We don't know if it is boredom or children copying their parents who go down the pub on a Friday night and get drunk," she said.

"It seems young people want to drink. Most children can't afford to go to the Rotunda and spend £10 on a film and popcorn, so they buy a couple of cheap beers and get drunk."

She said the project, based in Norbiton, employs specialist alcohol workers who are developing workshops aimed at educating under-16s about alcohol use, its dangers and problems it can cause later in life, such as alcoholism.

Mrs Terry said she had seen children as young as 11 drinking and knows one girl who was rushed to hospital before Christmas to have her stomach pumped because she was so drunk.

She said young children tend to get drink from older teenagers or from unscrupulous off-licences.

Professor Joe Bailey, Kingston University's head of social sciences and part of its new suburban studies department, said the lack of things to do in some areas could hold a clue as to why young people are drinking.

He said: "A hypothesis could be that the nature of the suburbs leads to bored children who want to smash their heads in on drink and drugs. But I don't know if any proper research has been done on it yet."

Kingston Hospital A&E consultant Dr Helen Draper said she sees less than one child a week because of alcohol, though she said a high proportion of all admissions involve drink.

"Children are not really a big nuisance for us because there are so few for it to be a real problem. You get children coming in with differing levels of intoxication, ranging from the minor to more severe. But we have a policy in place where they are admitted into the care of a paediatrician and taken out of A&E," she said.

Dr Draper said drunks coming in at the weekends are a bigger problem as they can be harder to deal with and are often the most likely to assault staff.

The figures were compiled by the former Kingston and Richmond Health Authority and released by the Department of Health early this month. They show that across London one child a day is admitted to hospital because of alcohol.

djudge@london.newsquest.co.uk