We’ve all been abroad on cheap package holidays and seen the typical Englishman abroad – beer bellied (yes, the girls too!), drunk on cheap alcohol and so red you need sunglasses just to glance in their direction.

The English have a bad reputation for binge drinking – and this can be fairly evident on a Saturday night in Leicester Square. But we’re not sure we can blame the London bars and clubs for such behaviour. We all remember the panic that ensued when the 24-hour drinking license came into effect – oh God, there will be drunks over our streets all day every day. We’ve yet to see the effects of this in Central London, we must admit.

That said, we do envy our friends across the pond in France with their appreciation of fine wine – being brought up on the good stuff from a young age. Most of our early drinking memories involve a park or house party and bottle of White Lightening – good times. We also have a pub culture, dissimilar from any country across Europe, with a post-5.30pm rush for the bar each day. With even the old man pubs filled to the rafters with suits on weekdays, it’s not surprising we have such a bad reputation. And don’t even get us started on the happy hours (please don’t ban them!), how many drinks for a fiver? Whoah, better wolf these down before the drinks are full-priced again!

We at ViewLondon do, however, take on board the serious side of drinking. Only recently there was an expose on Facebook of guys and girls shitfaced and passed out on the floor – often in pools of their own vomit. Not only is this dangerous, it’s not really very nice. As much as we chuckle at Ibiza Uncovered at all the tits and arse on display as the Brits let loose (literally!), we don’t really like it on our doorstep (sorry the rest of the world!). We also feel damn sorry for the emergency rooms across London, struggling to cope with the huge number of drunks – not to mention the abuse and violence suffered by some staff. Drunken twats – they’re only trying to help!

Still, sometimes the nanny state goes into overdrive. The majority of Londoners know their limits. Yes, when we’re on holiday a definite ‘I’m on holiday, innit, I can do what I want’ mentality descends upon us, but the rest of the time people are just out for a laugh. We don’t really need happy hours to be made illegal (have you seen how expensive drinks are in London most of the time – we’d be confined to the sofas in front of Eastenders for all eternity). And we’re still a bit miffed about being turfed from our favourite local at 11pm every day – what 24 hour drinking?

So c’mon guys and gals, it’s never particularly pleasant to see your stomach contents strewn across the pavement and it can be dodgy wandering the streets of London when you SWEAR that you just saw a man flying away… although maybe he just got the nightbus? Head spinning now... And we’re still chilled by that bloody scary Batman advert where the guy drunkenly falls off a building – oh God.

Eat, drink and be merry, just know your limits, just don’t become a boring old arse in the process!