A Plymouth man says his life was a failure until he stopped drinking alcohol.

Kevin is a recovering alcoholic and has been sober for 30 years but says when he was dependent on booze, school was a failure, work was a failure and relationships were failures.

His warning comes at the start of Alcohol Awareness Week.

Kevin says getting drunk became normal to him and even at the age of 15, he would drink so much that he would try to make himself vomit to stop the room spinning.

He was in and out of prison for 20 years for crimes ranging from burglary and assault, to the use of firearms.

Kevin says when the drinking stopped, the trouble stopped too. 

He says it was waking up in a police cell before appearing at Plymouth magistrates court that made him realise things needed to change.

To contact Alcoholics Anonymous, call 0845 769 7555.