I could have framed alcohol-breast cancer advice better - Chief Medical Officer

England's Chief Medical Officer has admitted she chose her words poorly when she told women they should "do as I do" and think about the risks of breast cancer every time they reach for a glass of wine.

Dame Sally Davies was accused of nanny state attitudes when she made the comments earlier this year to MPs at a Science and Technology Select Committee hearing.

Dame Sally has also set tough new guidance which cut the recommended drinking limit to 14 units a week - the equivalent of seven glasses of wine - for men and women.

But she used her guest-editing slot on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme to talk about alcohol with wine writer Jancis Robinson.

Addressing her controversial comments, Dame Sally told the show: "Let me start by saying I could have framed that better, couldn't I, when I was in front of the Select Committee.

"And everyone knows, who knows me well, that I enjoy a glass of wine too.

"What I was trying to get over is, what are the low-risk guidance for drinking?"

Dame Sally said she will be enjoying a glass of champagne on New Year's Eve like many others, but warned there is a "straight line" in the relationship between drinking and breast cancer.

National guidelines aim to slash the risk of harm to just 1%, and the stark warning was targeted at those who are drinking so much they are endangering themselves, Dame Sally said.

"And I think my job is to tell them the evidence, it is not to be nanny and tell them they must, but they do need to think about it."