A six-week campaign to encourage people to cut down on their drinking has been launched in Bath.

The Love Your Liver challenge is being backed by Bath and North East Somerset Council and NHS B&NES, and aims to show people how making small changes to the amount of alcohol they drink can benefit their health.

More than 100 people in the former Avon area have so far signed up to the campaign, which stresses that sticking to nationally agreed safe limits when drinking can protect the liver from damage.

B&NES Council project officer for alcohol harm reduction Jodie Smith said: "It is important to remember that you don't have to get drunk to damage your liver; regular low-level drinking can also cause harm."

Council active communities officer Natalie Candy is leading from the front by writing about the highs and lows of her own six weeks on the blog www.lovemyliverbath.word press.com.

She said: "I exercise three to four times a week and eat a well-balanced diet.

"I am generally aware of how I'm treating my body, but alcohol could be considered my weak spot and I tend to turn a blind eye to just how many empty calories alcohol contains.

"Therefore I look forward to taking up the six-week Love Your Liver challenge to keep a check on exactly how many units I'm drinking."

B&NES director of public health Dr Pamela Akerman said the key to good health was not necessarily month-long no-drinking detox periods.

"The campaign intends to highlight that it is not about making short-term drastic changes such as avoiding alcohol completely for a month, but rather making smaller sustainable changes like aiming for three alcohol-free days a week and giving it a rest for 24 hours between drinking."

Anyone wanting to take up the challenge can register at www.ministryofcheer.org to get a free advice pack.

Everyone who registers will be entered into a free prize draw for two tickets to the Thermae Bath Spa.

The initiative ties in with a Government advertising campaign which warns that regularly drinking two large glasses of wine or two strong pints of beer a day triples mouth cancer risk and doubles the likelihood of high blood pressure.