A raft of measures has been unveiled to crack down on Kent's binge-drinking culture.

In a hard-hitting report released today, Kent County Council has announced 28 recommendations to tackle the menace of youngsters' drinking.

Among the goals are that more alcohol education should be given to children in primary schools.

The strategy calls for more personal and social education to be given in primary and secondary schools and KCC is urging the Government to raise the profile of alcohol misuse.

KCC also wants to see campaigns at national and local levels to stop supermarkets selling cheap alcohol.

It wants more money to tackle the problem and promotes a hard-hitting campaign targeted at young people.

The strategy also pledges help to people with alcohol problems and urgent help for children whose parents misuse alcohol.

Statistics released by KCC show the Gravesham, Dartford and Thanet local authority areas are above the England average for all recorded crime attributable to alcohol in 2005-2006.

The same three areas were also above the England average for violent crime related to alcohol in the same period.

Maidstone, Ashford, Thanet, Swale, Shepway were the areas that saw above average incidents of sexual offences because of alcohol.

Shepway and Thanet were higher than the England average for the number of alcohol-related admissions to hospital.

KCC’s cabinet member for public health, Graham Gibbens, said: "This is not about telling people what they can and cannot do - this is about being sensible, taking control of your own actions and acting quickly for those whose lives are damaged by alcohol misuse.

"It is a serious issue affecting all parts of society. There needs to be a change in culture and attitudes towards alcohol."