The men and women given the vodka and tonic found it more difficult to work out if a face was symmetrical than those on soft drinks.

Researcher Lewis Halsey said: ‘People that had drink tended to be less good at noticing if a face was asymmetrical, they often saw it as being symmetrical when it was asymmetrical.’

And the women drinkers were particularly bad at the task, the journal Addiction reports…

In some cases, the mere anticipation of alcohol may be enough to alter judgement.