Shoppers buying alcohol at the supermarket

Shoppers buying alcohol at the supermarket face a 'walk of shame' to a dedicated checkout counter.

The plan is being drawn up by ministers to curb Britain's growing binge-drinking culture.

Stores would have to create the 'alcohol-only' areas manned by specially-trained staff.

This would hopefully deter shoppers from making excessive purchases by putting them under the scrutiny of fellow customers.

And it would help catch those buying alcohol underage.

A senior Government source told the Daily Mail that ministers were convinced the easy availability of cut-price alcohol is causing young people, in particular, to drink to excess.

Leading stores have been attacked for selling lager at a cheaper price than bottled water.

'Having separate areas to sell alcohol will help us tackle this growing problem of young people getting tanked up on cheap supermarket beers and lagers,' said the source.

'We would also want to see specially-trained staff in these areas to make sure alcohol is not being bought by people who are underage.'

The move would bring Britain into line with countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, which have varying restrictions on alcohol sales and in some areas, only allow it to be sold at state-owned outlets.

Effectively, it would bring alcohol sales into line with tobacco sales in supermarkets.

Families doing a weekly shop would have to queue twice, once to purchase their groceries and again to purchase wine, beer and spirits.

Retailers are likely to be infuriated by the suggestion of dedicated check-out areas.

They will argue that it would cost tens of thousands of pounds in store refits and staff training, and would also inconvenience customers.

Critics might also claim Labour is stigmatising supermarkets to deflect the impact of its own relaxation of licensing laws to allow 24-hour drinking.

Ministers are expected to reject a system of minimum pricing for drink, with a fixed fee per unit of alcohol, which has been called for by some doctors.

However, they are considering a system of barcoding of alcohol products to ensure the point of sale can be quickly identified.

Stores such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's could be required to stamp a barcode on cans and bottles so police who detain underage drinkers know where their alcohol has come from.

Research backed by the Government has concluded that cheap supermarket deals are linked to binge drinking.

Experts from Sheffield University warned that cheap alcohol was fuelling rates of cancer and strokes, as well as helping to increase divorce rates.

The annual cost of treating people in hospital for alcohol-related problems has now reached £2.7billion. The Government also claims the drinks industry is failing to abide by its voluntary codes of conduct.

One study found that only 57 per cent of alcohol products contained details of the number of units they contained, and only 3 per cent warned pregnant women to avoid drinking.

Other moves being considered by the Government are a ban on pub promotions, such as free drinks offers to women, happy hours and the sale of cocktails with suggestive names such as Sex on the Beach.

The draft code of practice drawn up by the Home Office and the Department of Health also proposes cigarette-style health warnings about the dangers of alcohol for display in shops, bars and restaurants.