MPs and the licensed trade in Wharfedale are at loggerheads on measures to curb booze-related crime on the streets at night.

The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee wants a ban on drinks promotions and a further law to stop supermarkets selling alcohol at a loss.

Ilkley MP Ann Cryer, a member of the committee, said: “We have either got to go down this route or get more police in city and town centres on Friday and Saturday nights.

“The evidence we took on the committee showed forces have not got the resources. We either have to pay more tax and get more officers or attack the issue from another way.”

She said happy hours encourage people to consume large amounts of alcohol in a short period and it has a profound effect on their behaviour.

Mrs Cryer said the call was just one aspect of the report looking at policing in the 21st century.

But Burley-in-Wharfedale and Menston MP Philip Davies said: “It is completely ridiculous and simplistic.

“The vast majority of people who go for a drink or buy alcohol are respectable and law abiding.

“At a time when people are struggling to pay their bills, some MPs are saying their constituents should pay more. It is ridiculous.

“We should not penalise the majority of people. It is mad to ask my constituents to pay more, what there should be is more police on the beat to deal with the problem rather than advoc-ating a nanny state.”

Chris Hems, landlord of the Midland Hotel, Station Road, Ilkley, has a happy hour in the early evening.

He said that alcohol in pubs was so expensive that people could not afford to binge drink – even in happy hour – except when they bought their booze at supermarkets.

He said: “I think the MPs are barking up the wrong tree. Having a happy hour in a pub where there is 30 to 40 pence off a pint of beer isn’t a problem to anybody whatsoever.

“People binge drink at home becaue they cannot afford to binge drink in pubs any more.”

Mr Hems also said that there was less trouble late at night in Ilkley than there used to be. “Ten or 15 years ago, people were fighting every Friday night.”

Tesco’s executive director for corporate and legal affairs, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, said: “Binge drinking and other alcohol-related social problems are a serious concern to us all, but it is far too simplistic to apportion responsibility for this to price alone.”

Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland said: “It is important that wherever alcohol is sold, it is sold responsibly and any form of discounting or promotion that encourages irresponsible drinking should be outlawed.

“My biggest concern is the fact that some supermarkets continue to sell alcohol at irresponsibly low prices which can lead to people, including under-age drinkers, getting tanked up at home or, worse still, in the street or in parks.”

He added: “Tackling that should be a priority. In contrast to that, well run community pubs are controlled environments where people can socialise and enjoy a drink with friends.

“It is time to recognise that they are a key part of the solution, not the problem.”

Tony Grey, landlord of The Junction pub in Otley, runs a ‘happy day’ on Mondays, when pints of beer are 40p cheaper than normal.

“We have a ‘happy Monday’, which we think is a more responsible approach because if people are coming out with a little less cash they don’t have to drink rapidly to get a bargain,” he said.

“Happy hours and drinks promotions that encourage people to drink as much as they can in as short a time as possible are not in the spirit of responsible selling of alcohol.

“But I don’t think there’s a great deal of correlation between happy hour promotions and violence, apart from when they are run late at night on weekends.

“Supermarkets and off-licences now sell more alcohol than pubs and it seems strange that alcohol-related violence has increased as pubs have sold less.”

“There does seem to be a cause and effect there that seems to have escaped people,” he added. “Supermarkets sell alcohol just as cheap as they can and I think that’s more of a problem because it can then be consumed without any supervision.

“They’ve even got a phrase for it now: ‘pre-loaded’, where people knock back a bottle of vodka or whatever at home and then end up in your pub where, after one pint, they’re drunk and if they cause trouble it’s the pub that gets the blame.”

Mr Grey insisted: “Issues like that and happy hours have to be looked at but, conversely, pubs are struggling and having to look at ways of getting people in.”