COLLAPSING in the street, flashing underwear, vomiting into a toilet or drunkenly kissing their best friends.

Incidents such as these in the course of a big night might have been the source of embarrassment for young women a few years ago.

Today they are more likely to boast about it, not just with friends, but with the world on social networking sites.

Facebook is loaded with thousands of photographs of local women, many of them teenage girls, in various stages of inebriation.

For those who have outgrown nightclubs, the website provides an insight into the growing “ladette” phenomenon of harddrinking young ladies.

Many boast of their exploits on forums such as I love to consume alcohol in Southampton!, I’m a Southampton student who loves getting p***ed for cheap and 30 reasons girls should call it a night.

However, Facebook is just one symptom of the drinking culture – the true impact is felt by the county’s police officers and hospital staff.

Police statistics uncovered by the Daily Echo have revealed the number of Hampshire women fined on the spot for anti social behaviour has more than trebled since 24- hour drinking laws were introduced.

A Freedom of Information request showed that almost 1,200 fixed penalty notices of up to £80 were handed out to women in the county last year.

This is more than three times the 383 fines handed out in 2004/05 – the final year before round-the-clock drinking was introduced – and just 27 the previous year.

Until 2006, just one fine had been given to a girl aged under 18 – last year there was 25.

Offences range from drinking in the street to shouting abuse or damaging property.

The Hampshire increase is in line with national figures that show almost 37,100 fines were handed to women last year, compared with 11,020 before 24-hour drinking.

The number of women being arrested for being drunk and disorderly in public is also on the rise in Hampshire.

In 2007, 183 women were thrown in the cell, compared with 161 the year before.

Inspector Alistair Nichols, who runs Hampshire Police’s alcohol harm reduction team, said the majority of penalty notices for disorder (PND) were the result of alcohol.

But he said the relaxation in licensing laws could not be blamed for the rise in PNDs.

He said it was more a reflection of the increasing use of fines by officers, rather than pursuing action through the courts.

“I’m not surprised by the figures,” Insp Nichols said. “There has been a steady change in the patterns between men and women’s behaviour full stop and that reflects wider changes in society.”

Liver and alcohol expert Dr Nick Sheron, from the University of Southampton, is already treating younger women – some in their mid-twenties – for liver cirrhosis.

Dr Sheron said it would be another three to four years before the current generation of young female drinkers realise they have developed the crippling disease.

“It’s a part of our changing society. It reflects the fact that women are equal with men in all areas – and one of those areas is that they are now drinking just as much,”

said Dr Sheron.

Latest figures from Southampton General Hospital reveal there were at least 946 liver admissions in total in 2007 – with more than 90 per cent of these due to alcohol.

It’s known as a silent killer because at least one in five people who show signs of liver damage die within a matter of months.

As a member of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance, Dr Sheron is lobbying the Government to increase the cost of alcohol.

“There is a direct correlation between affordability of alcohol and the number of women dying of liver disease and other alcohol-related deaths,” he said.

“We need to see a gradual and steady increase in taxation on alcohol in line with people’s wages. This is what happened until the past 20 years, when alcohol has become proportionately much, much cheaper.”

The second impact of increased binge drinking on the NHS is in emergency departments across the county.

The latest figures show that the number of people admitted to Southampton General Hospital because of alcohol shot up nearly 75 per cent in the past four years.

Sarah Charter, a senior sister at Southampton General Hospital’s emergency department, said 30 per cent of the 496 alcohol-related admissions over the festive period were women.

She warned young women that binge drinking placed themselves at serious risk of assault.

“We’ve seen women come in who have drunk so much that they are practically unconscious. The major danger is if they vomit and then breathe it in.

“Women who binge drink also make themselves vulnerable to accidents and assaults.

They are not as able to give consent to sexual activity and can find themselves in situations where they’re just not able to look after themselves.

“It’s not uncommon to come on duty in the morning and there are still people with alcohol-related assaults and accidents in the department. The overall impact of alcohol on our service really is huge.”