'Drunk' Paul Gascoigne taken to hospital after flat 'eviction'

Troubled ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne is in hospital after being found drunk outside his apartment in Sandbanks, Dorset, and is reportedly on the verge of being made homeless.

The former Spurs and England footballer, who has endured a long battle with alcohol and mental illness, was discovered "slumped on the ground holding a bottle of vodka", according to the Daily Telegraph. The dishevelled star was taken to hospital by ambulance.

His latest binge comes amid reports that he faces eviction from his rented home near Poole and after it emerged that he was preparing to take to the football field once again after agreeing to play for a Sunday league side in Bournemouth, a decade after his last professional appearance for Boston United.

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According to The Sun, Gascoigne's "alcoholic demons are back and on the brink of destroying him".

A friend of the former player told the Daily Mirror: "It is very sad. But the reality is Paul has been drinking for the past few weeks and once that happens things will only end one way... His landlord had given him ten days to get out of the flat and it was weighing on his mind. Obviously things became too much for him in the past couple of days and he has turned back to the bottle."

The troubled 47-year-old "has been locked in a life-and-death struggle with booze for years", says the paper. "His latest rehab stint was in January when he checked into a £6,000-a-month clinic in Southampton. This was at least his seventh attempt to get professional help to quit alcohol."

In a documentary last year Gascoigne, who won 57 international caps, admitted that he was aware that drinking could kill him. In early 2013 he was admitted to an alcohol treatment centre in the US in a "last chance" rescue effort reportedly paid for by friends and celebrities including BBC DJ Chris Evans.

His latest relapse prompted another outpouring of sympathy on social media and the Mirror reports that his daughter Bianca "has thanked well-wishers" for their support.