Top Gear star James May's startling alcohol admission which he says 'isn't harmful'

'Drinking makes it easier for shy people to have sex, which means more children and a bigger workforce' says the Top Gear star who admitted to knocking back a staggering amount of booze regularly

James May can put the drinks away(Image: Getty Images)

James May has confessed to drinking every day, downing almost seven times the recommended amount each week.

The former Top Gear star, 61, nicknamed Captain Slow, said: “It’s fairly unusual for me to go an evening without a drink. I have a very strict six o’clock rule, though sometimes I’m watching the clock at half-five. Of an evening, I will often have a gin and tonic, some wine and a few beers in the pub.”

James, left, added: “I don’t think it’s harmful. I think it’s good. I recommend it because even though it’s a cliché to say it’s a social lubricant, it’s true.

He revealed he drinks around seven times more than the recommended amount(Image: Getty Images)

"Drinking makes it easier for shy people to have sex, which means more children and a bigger workforce.”

A double G&T contains two units of alcohol, two glasses of wine is around five units, and three beers – if pints – almost six.

That’s 13 units per day, or 91 – made up of seven G&Ts, 14 glasses of wine, and some 21 beers – every week.

While he drinks almost every evening, he won't start before 6pm(Image: Getty Images)

The UK Chief Medical Officers advise that adults should not “regularly” drink more than 14 units of alcohol in a week.

That means the telly star drinks nearly seven times the recommended amount.

This comes as experts suspect drink-driving guidelines are not quite right. Current rules state drivers can have under 35 micrograms of booze per 100 millilitres of breath. This switches to 80 in the blood and 107 in urine. Scotland have slightly tighter rules of 22 micrograms in the breath.

He advocates drinking and says it boots the workforce, in a round about way(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

According to a well-known superstition, drivers can enjoy one pint before getting into their car.

However, with recent news of a man being jailed despite claiming to have enjoyed just one, experts warn this might be too much and are warning that "one pint" may be enough to raise drivers over the limit.