Men should drink no more than six pints a week according to new guidelines but landlords and pub owners in Cumbria don't think people will take much notice.

New alcohol guidelines published by the UK's chief medical officers cuts the maximum recommended number of units men can consume in a week from 21 down to 14, bringing them in line with women.

Fourteen units is equal to just over five pints of 4.8 per cent lager or four large glasses of 14 per cent wine.

The guidance also suggests drinkers should have several booze-free days a week to reduce their intake and recommends that the “safest approach” for pregnant women is not to drink alcohol at all.

According to the new guidelines, there is clear evidence that heavy drinking even on a small number of days increases risks to health.

And the expert group, who put the guidelines together, said it was also clear that there are a number of serious diseases, including certain cancers, which can occur even when drinking within the weekly guideline.

Although the risk was judged to be low, the experts believe there is no level of regular drinking that can be considered as completely safe in relation to some cancers. The Committee of Carcinogenicity recently concluded that "drinking alcohol increased the risk of getting cancers of the mouth and throat, voice box, gullet, large bowel, liver, of breast cancer in women and probably also cancer of the pancreas".

Joanna Simons, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: “These evidence-based guidelines were put together based on recommendations from a group of independent doctors, after looking at 20 years’ worth of evidence. They represent the maximum amount we can drink each week with little risk to our health.

“Alcohol is linked to over 60 medical conditions including cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure, and regularly drinking over the recommended limits can increase the risk of developing alcohol-related illnesses.

“We know that nine out of 10 people don’t know about the link between drinking and cancer and so we are calling for mandatory health warnings on alcohol products, as is standard practice in other countries.”

But despite the health risks, Cumbrian landlords and owners do not think the new guidelines will have any effect on people's drinking habits.

Paul Brown, co-owner of the Graham Arms in Longtown, said: "In my experience people take no consideration of guidelines whatsoever.

"I think a lot of it's got to do with the successive governments going back quite a few years now - it's the nanny state telling people what to do and when to do it."

Mr Brown argued that alcohol has benefits too - it is a social activity and it is local village pubs that hold communities together and reduce isolation. He said supermarkets selling cheap alcohol were the real problem as people drink more on their own in their houses, starving pubs of business.

He said: "Once you have lost the pub, you have lost that fabric that holds our little worlds together."

Adam Ramsey, the manager at The Nags Head in Brampton, said people would make their own choices despite what guidelines advise.

He said: "Some people just choose to ignore all the health warnings and go on and live a long life. Some people are just unlucky and start developing problems.

"I think with cancer, it's one of those thing you're either going to have it or you're not."

He agreed with Mr Brown that there were benefits to drinking.

"There are the people who just come out and drink the six pints but they will use that for meeting and greeting people and not being so isolated," he said.

The Nags Head landlady, Vikki Gordon, said she didn't think the new guidelines would have any effect on business.

"People aren't bothered about guidelines," she said.