Binge drinking is the root cause of 56 percent of all fights and other incidents of violence in Great Britain, according to a study from the U.K. Department of Health.

The Evening Standard reported Oct. 20 that the research was conducted before the government decided to lift traditional closing-time laws and allow bars to serve alcohol around the clock. Supporters of the new policy said that much alcohol-related violence came as bars emptied out at the same time, but critics say allowing all-night drinking will only make the problem worse.

Researchers at the University of London interviewed more than 8,000 people ages 16-74 and asked them about their experiences with violence. They found that while men were more likely to fight when sober, women were more prone to violence when alcohol was involved.

Illicit drugs were involved in just 15 percent of violent incidents, researchers found. Lead researcher Min Yang said that violence in Great Britain would be cut in half if drinking stopped.

"Alcohol misuse and its relation to violence, particularly binge-drinking, have generated increasing public and political concern in the U.K. following a marked increase in premises selling alcohol over the past 25 years and legislative changes relaxing the selling of alcohol," wrote Yang. "Research into alcohol-related disorder highlights the concentration of violent and public-order offenses in urban areas with high densities of licensed premises that peak at weekends."

The research appears online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.