Barry Klaassen, consultant in A&E based at Ninewells, said today the acutely intoxicated youngsters were risking serious and lasting damage.

Their bodies could not cope with the quantities of alcohol and it could cause “cellular damage” within hours.

Young teenagers drinking whole bottles of spirits risk immediate liver damage and had to be admitted for “close observation”.

Mr Klaassen said the pre-Christmas weekend had been “exceptionally busy” both at Ninewells and Perth Royal Infirmary. The freezing conditions led to many tumbles and people arriving at both sites with orthopaedic injuries.

Christmas Day evening into Boxing Day was exceptionally busy and there are criminal investigations ongoing into a number of serious assaults, some of which were life threatening.

“We did have quite a few 14 and 15-year-olds acutely intoxicated,” said Mr Klaassen. “They had drunk bottles of spirits.

“That is quite dangerous for young people. People who have not built up a tolerance to alcohol and first time abusers like that can run the risk of acute toxicity from the alcohol and that can lead to liver damage.”

Youngsters who think liver damage is not a problem for them and is something that happens to people in their 50s and 60s after a lifetime of abusing alcohol are mistaken.

“They can become profoundly low in blood sugar because their livers cannot generate enough sugar to the bloodstream.

“Acute intoxication is quite a dangerous thing and quite a slippery slope for a teenager.”

While Mr Klaassen did not have collated figures for the festive period, his experience of working in the A&E department was that it was exceptionally busy and the entire team pulled out all the stops to cope with the volume of patients.

“It was like the Blitz in here. It was like a war zone.”

He said he had sent an e-mail round all staff praising them for their efforts.

Sadly, not all members of the public were appreciative and reception staff in particular had to cope with abuse from those being asked to wait while those with serious illnesses and injuries were given priority.

Mr Klaassen said he had to be firm with one particular member of the public, and even threatened to call the police and have the man charged with breach of the peace.

“He had been waiting half an hour and was demanding to be seen for something that wasn’t even a fresh injury.”

He declined to go into further detail for fear of identifying the individual.