'I came back from Ibiza and my fiancée had gone. I had to make the hardest decision ever'

University is a place where young people can make new friends and live independently as they begin their adult lives.

With dirt cheap drinks, new social circles and events on almost every night, for some it can be a massive party – especially in the first year.

Scott McNicol is among those who opted for higher education, enrolling at the University of Central Lancashire to study graphic design after finishing college.

READ MORE: 'I thought my heavy drinking was fine because it was after 6pm. It wasn't'

But dropping out two years later as an alcoholic in £25,000 worth of debt, it turned out to be one of the worst decisions of his life.

Scott, from Withington, had never touched alcohol prior to moving into his university halls.

However, he quickly adapted to the party culture and found himself drinking six days a week – not attending a single lecture during his studies.

“It was really just to get away from where I was living,” he recalled. “To go away and have a party. I was left to my own devices.”

Scott, now 36, knew he had a drinking problem – but he didn’t fit the stereotypical view of an alcoholic.

“I wasn’t waking up and having a drink and drinking all day,” he added. “I would wake up at 2’oclock in the afternoon and go out at night-time.

“Everyone thinks an alcoholic wakes up in the morning and goes straight to a bottle of vodka, and it’s not like that. It depends on the personal situation. It’s where something is affected in your life that’s personal to you.”

As his drinking spiralled out of control, Scott lost his driving license and stopped paying his university accommodation rent.

Before long, his arrears had spiralled to an eye-watering £25,000, leaving him with a county court judgment against his