Top doctor warns: 'Gazza could die'

Fans of Paul Gascoigne have been told that they should not offer to buy him booze - for his own sake.

The troubled ex-footballer was spotted drowning his sorrows this week, just three days after he left The Priory rehab clinic in Roehampton, South West London.

Top doctor Rajiv Jalan, an expert in liver disease, has now warned that Gazza is risking his life by binge drinking and should be encouraged to stop.

"I would urge anyone who sees him in a pub not to serve him and certainly avoid buying him a drink," Dr. Jalan told the Daily Star. "That's his biggest enemy. He would hate it in the short term - but it would save his life."

He continued: "If there is existing damage to his liver from drinking, which can happen without people knowing, then within 6 to 8 weeks Paul could have cirrhosis and what is called alcoholic hepatitis - inflammation of the liver.

"He'll then need a transplant - but nobody in Britain will give him one if he keeps drinking and doesn't show signs he wants to stop. He then has just a 50% chance of surviving. He could die."

Paul's daughter Bianca recently said that his family are "powerless to help him".