She started drinking heavily at the age of 12. And by the time she was 14, Natasha Farnham was told by shocked doctors that she was the youngest patient they had ever seen with liver failure caused by alcohol abuse.

She was drinking up to six bottles of wine a day - and now, at 18, she has been warned that if she drinks again she will die.

Her descent into a life of ruined health and petty crime again illustrates the perils of cheap alcohol and the culture of binge-drinking that grips Britain.

The teenager wants to tell her story to warn others of the dangers

When I was told about the liver failure, it was the doctors that looked the most shocked.

"They said that they hadn't ever seen liver failure in someone so young.

"But it didn't sink in at all."

On New Year's Day 2004, she was rushed to hospital after a three-day binge in which she drank four boxes of wine - equivalent to 16 bottles.

"The doctors warned me to clean up my act or I could die," she added.

"But I didn't listen."

Natasha, who continued to drink while taking tablets for her liver failure, pleaded guilty to burglary at Bristol Crown Court last week and was given a two-year community order.

She has been on a rehabilitation programme for two months and is finally working with doctors to beat her addiction.

Her mother Michelle, 40, said: "When she started drinking, it was around the same time that alcopops were being advertised.

"I'm sure Natasha is not the first, or the last, teenage binge-drinker to be diagnosed with liver failure."

Sarah Matthews, of the British Liver Trust, said: "This is a tragedy and she is very lucky to be alive.

"I am pretty certain she is the youngest person in the UK to suffer liver failure from drinking.

"This case raises a lot of issues.

"The main thing that needs to be done is for supermarkets to stop offering alcohol at pocket-money prices.

"It is so cheap at the moment it is ridiculous."