'Nearest bar after work'

Kate Rummery is a recruitment consultant from Ascot who decided to cut down on her drinking at the New Year.

Miss Rummery, 33, said: "Since I started working in my twenties I'd say I drank a lot.

"I'd be out every Friday, straight after work, and again on Saturday, just bingedrinking. I'd start with wine then go on to the shorts, tequila, the lot. I'd have a drink or two during the week as well.

"I think working in London doesn't help. It's too easy just to stumble into the nearest bar to relax after a hard day.

"One day it might be drinking with business associates, the next with colleagues, so it doesn't seem so bad because it's a different group of people each time."

She added: "Now it's time to try to get fit. I've stopped smoking, started doing a lot of sport and I feel better for it."