Older people should not be cowed into believing that alcohol is more damaging to them than to younger generations, it has been asserted.

The Peninsula Medical School in the south-west of England has published research indicating that moderate drinking - of one or two drinks per day, for example - is no more harmful to the elderly than to other demographics.

Indeed, it can have health benefits, the research suggests.

Dr Iain Lang, who led the project, told the Times that the work was not intended to advocate heavy consumption.

"What we are saying is that current guidelines on drinking for the elderly are too conservative," he explained.

"A couple of drinks a day will do no harm and will have a more beneficial effect on cognitive and general health than abstinence."

However, the Institute of Alcohol Studies last April published a factsheet suggesting between one and five per cent of elderly people who drank "more than occasionally" could be classed as "problem drinkers".