Thousands of children across the capital are being admitted to hospital for alcohol and drug abuse.

These statistics have come as part of a report by Public Health England, which revealed that more than 3,000 children across London were admitted to hospital for drink and drug abuse over the past three years.

A total 1,071 were admitted to hospital for drug abuse and 1,931 for substance misuse.

Labour’s London Assembly health spokesperson Onkar Sahota said: “This blight on young Londoners is an avoidable tragedy.

“Government funding for drink and drug abuse awareness, prevention and support services has been cut in London every year since 2014.

“The consequences of these short-sighted cuts will be with us for years.”

The most drug admissions were in Bromley, Lewisham and Southwark, which each admitted 91 young people over the last three years, followed by Greenwich and Bexley with 83 and 81 admissions respectively.

As for alcohol, the worst effected areas were Croydon and Haringey with 68 and 57 child hospital admissions in the past three years respectively.

Mr Sahota added: “The Mayor’s Healthy Schools Award supports schools that help kids make sensible choices about these substances. The Young Londoners Fund is giving thousands of young people constructive activities to do.

“But while the Government continues to cut public health funding the problem will continue.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Thanks to robust public health measures, drug use in this country is lower now than it was a decade ago, with more adults leaving treatment successfully and waiting times remaining low at two days – while alcohol consumption has also fallen overall.

“We are determined to do more, which is why prevention is at the heart of our Long Term Plan for the NHS – backed by an extra £33.9 billion in cash terms a year by 2023/24 – and we will publish a green paper setting out our ambitions to further transform public health later this year.”