The Government should consider putting up the price of drink – or forcing pubs to serve it in smaller measures, according to MPs.

An inquiry warned the problem of binge drinking was getting worse, and costing the NHS £2.7 billion a year.

The Committee of Public Accounts, whose members include Keith Hill MP (Lab, Streatham) and Paul Burstow (Lib Dem, Sutton and Cheam) said the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions was 811,000 in 2006-7, an increase of 71 per cent over four years.

It meant the Department of Health was failing to meet its target of cutting down on harm caused by over-drinking.

But the MPs pointed out that some of the factors causing people to drink more were outside the Department’s control.

In a new report, they said: “Other parts of government also influence rates of alcohol harm, in particular through policies on pricing and taxation.

“The Department has published research which suggests that changes in the pricing and promotion of alcohol could deliver reductions in health harms, crime and absenteeism from work.

“The review found that alcohol became 69 per cent more affordable in relation to average incomes, between 1980 and 2007.

“Alcohol prices are influenced by a range of factors, including industry costs and taxation levels.”

They added: “The strength of alcoholic drinks has increased and glass sizes have grown.”

By law, pubs are only allowed to sell drink in certain specified amounts. For example, the Weights and Measures Act 1985 states that gin, rum, vodka and whisky can only be sold in quantities of 25ml or 35 ml.

But the MPs said: “Premises could be required to offer customers the choice of the smallest size of glass permitted under legislation.”

However, there was also more that the Department of Health could do, MPs said. Doctors could make more effort to identify patients who drank too much and advise them to cut down, and specialist services designed to help people who drink too much could be more widely available.

Edward Leigh, the committee’s chairman, said: "Too many people are drinking too much. In England, nearly a third of all men and a fifth of all women are regularly drinking more than the official guidelines say they should.

"In doing so, many are on course to damage their health and general wellbeing.”

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