People who work more than 48 hours per week are more likely to drink too much alcohol, a new study suggests.

Finnish scientists set out to examine the link between working hours and risky alcohol consumption - which is considered to be more than 14 standard drinks per week for women and more than 21 for men.

Risky alcohol consumption is thought to increase the risk of a number of conditions, including heart disease, liver disease, cancer and stroke.

The scientists looked at over 333,000 people living in 14 countries. They found that people who worked more than 48 hours per week were 11% more likely to consume higher amounts of alcohol. A smaller study involving more than 100,000 people in nine countries found a similar increased risk - at 12%.

When the scientists looked at data from 18 studies, they found that people who worked between 49 and 54 hours per week were 13% more likely to consume risky amounts of alcohol compared to people who worked 35-40 hours.

Those who worked 55 hours or more had a 12% increased risk.

The scientists did not find any differences between men and women, nor did they find any differences when age, socioeconomic status and region were taken into account.

"The workplace is an important setting for the prevention of alcohol misuse. Further research is needed to assess whether preventive interventions against risky alcohol use could benefit from information on working hours," the team from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health said.

Details of these findings are published in the British Medical Journal.