[Ammi]

Alcohol advertising should be banned completely at music and sports events to protect young people from excessive exposure, a charity says.

Alcohol Concern said the current system of regulating how alcohol is promoted was failing youngsters.

It claimed many recognised more alcohol brands than ice cream or cakes.

Chief executive Eric Appleby said there had to be a "balance between commercial and public interest".

Alcohol Concern's report was based on research by its Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC) - a group of young people in England and Wales who review alcohol advertising and issue complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) when they discover content deemed to be irresponsible.

Three of their 13 complaints have so far been upheld.

'More proactive'

In its report, Alcohol Concern said it had found "numerous" examples of inappropriate advertising and high levels of alcohol brand recognition among the young.

It called for new rules restricting what adverts could mention about an alcohol product - arguing that only characteristics such as strength, origin, composition and means of production should be described.

The charity also demanded a ban on alcohol advertising in the trailers of films shown in cinemas with less than an 18 certificate.

It urged the ASA to operate in a "more proactive way" - instead of "depending on complaints from the public" before looking into advertising code breaches.

The ASA should be able to levy "meaningful" sanctions including fines for serious non-compliance, it added.

The report called for for statutory and independent regulation of the alcohol and advertising industries, also calling for a review of the way digital and online content is regulated.

In particular, it pushed for the introduction of a model similar to France's Loi Evin, a 1991 law which has forbidden alcohol brands from sponsoring sporting or cultural events, as well as banning alcohol advertising targeted at the young or screened on TV or in cinemas.

In May, figures released by the regulator Ofcom suggested children saw an average of 3.2 alcohol adverts per week in 2011 - compared with 2.7 in 2007.

It called for the UK's advertising regulators to reassess the rules that limit children from being exposed to alcohol advertising on TV.

'Extremely damaging'
Alcohol Concern chief executive Eric Appleby said: "Children and young people are seeing more alcohol advertising than in the past and are better able to recognise alcohol brands than those of cakes or ice cream.

"This has to be a wake-up call to the fact that the way we regulate alcohol advertising isn't working."

He went on: "Young people tell us that they think alcohol advertising sends a message that it's cool and normal to drink, often to excess.

"It's time we reset the balance between commercial and public interest."

Stuart O'Reilly, a 19-year-old member of YAAC, said: "The code is clearly unfit for purpose. Young people are bombarded with adverts that may not explicitly state, but often heavily imply, messages about alcohol that are inappropriate or misleading.

"This can be extremely damaging to young people who use these messages to form their relationship with alcohol."

Mr O'Reilly added: "YAAC's work is frustrated by the ASA's lengthy investigation process and its limited remit, which enables alcohol advertisers to constantly push the boundaries with very little consequence to themselves.

"We need urgent change to ensure young people's attitudes towards alcohol are not based on misinformation from those whose job it is to sell alcohol."