The FINANCIAL -- A Panorama programme hosted by former Government spin doctor and self-confessed former alcoholic Alastair Campbell has received a mixed reaction from the pub trade.

Campbell's programme, Britain's Hidden Alcoholics, which aired last night on BBC1, aimed to highlight a perceived rise in the number of middle-class professionals with a secret drink problem. Campbell spoke to health professionals who asserted liver disease and other alcohol-related illnesses were at "crisis" levels, and interviewed recovering alcoholics from professional backgrounds at an exclusive clinic.

According to Caterer and Hotelkeeper, he also revealed that he had been opposed, during his time at the heart of the Labour government, to the relaxation of licensing laws and highlighted the problem of cheap alcohol which was fuelling drinking to excess in the home.

But drinks industry commentator Paul Chase, who is director and head of UK Compliance at CPL Training, accused the former Labour Party communications chief of "rehearsing hoary old myths".

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