Alcoholic John lost his job and his girlfriend to alcohol.

His drink problem was so bad he would not know whether it was morning or night.

Now, after more than two months without a drink, John, 37, knows what time of day it is.

Alcohol is not always considered to be a drug but it is highly addictive and wrecks lives.

"It is legal and it is everywhere. It is easy to fall into the trap," he said.

John, of Bradford, began drinking strong lager when he left school and started clubbing with his mates.

But he admits: "I was always the one who was drinking two to everybody else's one.

"It was always me who couldn't remember going home and had to be told what I'd done and who I had embarrassed."

Despite his everyday drinking John had a responsible job with a finance company and a serious relationship with a girl.

But it went wrong when he was made redundant, after 17 years, in a company buyout.

"I always worried about the amount of drink I was having," he said. "But when things went wrong at work the drinking started to escalate."

John got other jobs, which were unsuitable. He began drinking at lunchtime and then sneaking vodka into the office.

"I took in a bottle of carbonated water with vodka in it," he said. His drinking carried on after work and he became like a zombie. He began suffering panic attacks and was forced to go on long-term sick leave.

"My relationship ended bec-ause of my drinking," he said. "We had been together for eight years but she couldn't do anything for me. It was crucifying her. I started drinking vodka and strong lager at home at 9am. At 2pm I'd have a sleep and then start drinking again. It was just drink and sleep."

John would go to the supermarket when it opened and buy a bottle of vodka and a leaving card to pretend to the check-out girl that it was a leaving present.

Last November John spotted a leaflet for the Caleb drugs treatment project on his mother's kitchen table.

"I don't know whether she left it there deliberately for me to see, but I read it," he said.

A couple of weeks later he walked through the doors for the Friday cafe. "I was petrified, but I had nothing to lose," he said. "One of the first people I saw was a support worker who I used to go to school with. I talked to him and that helped to put me at ease."

John went back the following Monday and began reducing the amount of alcohol he was drinking. On December 16, he had his last drink. Now he attends Caleb five days a week and goes to regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

"My health has improved considerably," he said. "There is a purpose to getting up now.

"I am making the effort to open the post and pay the bills. I am eating properly and I know when it is 6am.