The MSPs saw how police, paramedics and hospital staff have to cope with the human toll of excessive alcohol consumption by the city’s revellers.

At today’s meeting of the board, Mr Wallace referred to the Tele article and said the scenes were “totally unacceptable” and showed Dundee in a bad light.

He said all those engaged in the sale or supply of alcohol had to look at their responsibilities, but added that those who go for a night out also had to address the fact they are the ones creating the problem by their behaviour.

Mr Wallace cited the trend for people to buy large amounts of alcohol from off sales and consume it before going out for the evening.

He also criticised licensed premises which actively encouraged customers to drink to excess through irresponsible offers such as selling double measures at discounted prices or giving free drinks as a way of getting people to buy tickets for nightclubs.

“Irresponsible promotions like these have come to our attention,” he said. “They are in breach of the law and must not be allowed to continue.

“There are strong and proven links between excess alcohol consumption, alcohol poisoning, liver damage and, in some cases, actual death of the person.

“It should not rest solely on the shoulders of Tayside Police to put in place more robust policing. It is not the responsibility of paramedics and A&E staff to have to scrape legless individuals off the street. They do it because lives are at risk.”

Mr Wallace said two areas needed to be looked at as a priority, the first being the admission policy for licensed premises.

“There is strong evidence that underagers are gaining access to licensed premises,” he said. “By this fact the licence for the establishment, be it a club or pub, is put at risk.

“It must also be evident that some patrons are going in having already consumed a fair amount of alcohol. They should be refused entry. A more robust attitude from all licensed premises has to be adopted.”

Mr Wallace said the other priority area was staff training in identifying people who were drinking irresponsibly in licensed premises and responding accordingly. Staff have to realise that by not taking action they are not complying with the Licensing Act,” he said. “If this board receives reports of the Licensing Act being breached then strong action will have to be taken.”

With a new Act now in force, Mr Wallace called for a report to be brought forward to the board meeting in November about its implementation.

In particular, he wanted the report to focus on irresponsible promotions in licensed premises; details of the type of promotions that are being offered; whether staff are meeting their training responsibilities; and how, in general, premises are complying with the terms of their licence.

* The inability of three Broughty pubs to provide disabled toilet facilities is not unreasonable given their circumstances, Dundee’s licensing board decided today.

Board members had been asked to decide whether to hold formal hearings following long-standing complaints by the 5 Digits Disability Issues Group about the lack of disabled toilets at Doc Ferry’s, the Ferry Inn and the Royal Arch.

In a report, clerk to the board Patricia McIlquham said there were no conditions attached to the premises’ licences, which require the provision of accessible toilets.

The board heard from representatives of the three pubs, who argued the issue had been looked into in depth and that the circumstances of the individual premises would make it unreasonably difficult and costly to install the facilities.

Board chairman Rod Wallace said he had visited the premises and did not feel it would be reasonable to require them to install disabled toilets. On that basis, the board should not hold formal hearings.

Councillor Wallace said he accepted another body might take a different view and asked that the information be referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.