Government targets middle-class drinkers in TV and poster drive

Poster ads will appear today featuring a variety of drinks with the number of units clearly marked on the glass, as part of a wider campaign including radio and TV.

The campaign launches as a YouGov poll for the Department of Health reveals that many moderate drinkers are unaware of the high levels of alcohol in some drinks.

In a poll of 1,429 English adults 82% claimed to know what a unit is, but 77% did not know the number of units in a large glass of wine.

Dawn Primarolo, the public health minister, said that the campaign was aimed at the over-35s.

She said: "Alcohol isn't just an issue for young people who binge drink because regularly exceeding limits will have consequences for our health.

"These people do not consider themselves binge-drinkers, they are not on the town on Saturday night, but there's still an issue on how much alcohol they drink."

The DoH wants social drinkers to be in no doubt that regularly exceeding recommended levels of alcohol causes health problems.

There are also plans for details of the number of units in drinks to appear on beer mats.

Next month another series of ads will warn of dangers from excessive drinking such as high blood pressure, weight gain and problems in pregnancy.