LONDON: Women's alcohol intake reaches its peak when they reach their 40s, a study has found.

The Cardiff University study breathalysed 893 people late at night in the city centre for a year as part of the study.

The study found that 40 percent of men and 20 percent of women had drunk over a level which put them more at risk of injury and ill-health.

In men, blood alcohol concentration was highest in 29-year-olds, which tended to decrease with age but in women, the levels continued to rise with age with the levels highest in the over-40 age group. Prof Jonathan Shepherd.

The survey noted that men drank for an average of a seven-hour session while women for a five-and-three-quarter hours.

The survey also found that older women drank more than younger women while men in their late 20s beat older and younger men.

Younger drinkers, students and the unemployed were not the most 'at risk' groups for heavy drinking.

Professor Jonathan Shepherd insisted that one reason for women to start drinking at this age was that their home responsibilities lessen by this age.

"We speculate younger women have more responsibilities at home, and once the children have left home, then the sky's the limit," the BBC quoted Shepherd, as saying.