RICHMOND has the highest rate on under age drinking in London, with 18 per cent of 11-15 year olds admitting being drunk in the past month.

A report by the London Assembly's health and public services committee also reveals a rise in the number of youngsters being admitted to hospital as a result of drinking.

Nell Blane, of Richmond's drug and alcohol service, said parents' liberal attitude towards drink and drugs could be to blame.

"Traditionally Richmond is quite an affluent, liberal borough and has always had a history of drug taking. There's almost a culture in adults of acceptance of this, as something young people do. They also have more disposable income than children in other boroughs.

"Richmond has a mix of cultures – there aren't the cultural and religious influences that some other boroughs have – there's not as much shame attached to it."

But Ms Blane said questions had been raised about the survey. "It's based on a survey carried out on a school by school basis and in some areas we have a lot of out of borough pupils, so it's not going to entirely reflect what's going on with Richmond's children."

Underage drinking is on the rise across the capital, with the equivalent of 180, 818 bottles of lager drunk by 11-15 year olds every week.

In Haringey just two per cent admitted to getting drunk, while neighbouring Kingston came sixth from top, with 11 per cent being drunk in the past month.

Ms Blane said she had a rise in referrals to her team, but she believes that is because their service is getting better. "77 per cent of the children who took part in the survey said their drugs education is good, compared to 67 per cent nationally," she added.

Richmond Park MP Susan Kramer called for more funding to help slash the number of young drinkers. "We have simply got to get the message out to young people that binge drinking is seriously damaging to health. It is really worrying that so many of our young people are drinking to excess at such a young age.

"Our local police are sensibly using powers to declare dispersal zones where alcohol related disorder is a problem. But the government remains focused on tackling hard drugs. We continue to fight an ongoing battle to get the proper funding we need to alcohol treatment and education programmes."