But alcohol held her in a vice-like grip for 15 years – and in lockdown, it grew even tighter. Nikki spent £150 a week on wine, sinking three bottles a night and topping up with three triple gins or vodkas. “I’d crack open the first bottle of white wine about 4pm, ­occasionally 3pm, then over the evening, I’d knock back the fizz or white wine. Her drink crisis peaked in the first four months of lockdown when she was on sick leave after a patient assaulted her. She spoke as research by University College London shows one in seven of us started binge drinking in lockdown.

Source: Daily Mirror May 22, 2021 17:16 UTC