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London: Are there different types of alcohol drinkers? We probably know of two - normal drinkers and alcoholics. Britain's health officials now tell us there are nine of them.

The Department of Health has researched drinking types to promote a public health campaign against excessive or binge drinking. Alcohol-related illnesses costs the NHS around £2.7 billion a year.

Health researchers have over the past one year analysed the social and psychological characteristics of people who regularly drink twice the recommended guidelines of alcohol - 35 alcohol units per week for women and 50 for men.

The nine personality types of heavy drinkers are:

• "De-stress drinkers" use alcohol to regain control of life and calm down. They include middle-class women and men.
• "Conformist drinkers" are driven by the need to belong and seek a structure to their lives. They are typically men aged 45 to 59 in clerical or manual jobs.
• "Boredom drinkers" consume alcohol to pass the time, seeking stimulation to relieve the monotony of life. Alcohol helps them to feel comforted and secure.
• "Depressed drinkers" may be of any age, gender or socioeconomic group. They crave comfort, safety and security.
• "Re-bonding drinkers" are driven by a need to keep in touch with people who are close to them.
• "Community drinkers" are motivated by the need to belong. They are usually lower middle class men and women who drink in large friendship groups.
• "Hedonistic drinkers" crave stimulation and want to abandon control. They are often divorced people with grown-up children, who want to stand out from the crowd.
• "Macho drinkers" spend most of their spare time in pubs. They are mostly men of all ages who want to stand out from the crowd.
• "Border dependents" regard the pub as a home from home. They visit it during the day and the evening, on weekdays and at weekends, drinking fast and often.

The health department will launch a trial campaign in north-west England on the basis of this research. Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo told The Telegraph: "The pilot will help up to 4,000 drinkers cut down in the first year alone."

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