Tuesday 14 March 2017 5:33 pm

Cheltenham Festival sets new alcohol restrictions after last year’s debauchery

After last year's booze-fuelled escapades at Cheltenham Festival tarnished the lavish event, the racecourse has instated new rules in an attempt to limit how much customers drink.

Racegoers are now barred from purchasing more than four alcoholic drinks at a time. However, complimentary water will be made available at each bar.

In 2016, two footballers were fined after apparently urinating in a beer glass and tossing it onto unsuspecting racegoers in the executive box, while two models received a lifetime ban for flashing the crowd.

Paddy Power is taking bets that it might happen again.

"After last year’s scandal, the bookie makes it 6/1 that a professional footballer is banned from the festival and 6/4 that someone is pictured urinating off a balcony. Again."

The bookmaker also has odds on how many pints of Guinness will be sold during the week: 11/4 for under 220,000, 6/4 for 220,000 to 235,000 and 5/4 for over 235,000.

In 2015, 265,000 pints of Guinness were drunk. Attendees also guzzled 120,000 bottles of wine and 20,000 bottles of champagne.

The festival expects more than 260,000 people to attend over the four days.

The new policy was praised by the Racecourse Association (RCA), which is working in partnership with alcohol education charity Drinkaware to promote a campaign of responsible drinking across all of Britain's racecourse.

While acknowledging that enjoying alcoholic beverages "forms part of the relaxed and fun atmosphere of a day's racing", the RCA is urging customers to make use of soft drinks and free drinking water to "maximise their raceday experience".