Just face it the British public like there drink and can drink alot, not sure what you can do about it but make it clearer of the consequences of drinking too much, liver damage etc..I dont even know how much the limit is before driving, whats the actual limit ofa average person before they fall over and get done for drunken disorderly. Weatherspoons have cheap drinks so you tend to drink more, as a round works out cheaper, i remeber one in Goodmayes selling beer bottles for £1 each so you buy 2. Maybe only allow some pubs to have a certain amount of Kegs on a Friday/saturday night just a suggestion.

Indy Johal, Hornchurch, UK

So the fact that practiacally every town in the UK has a Wetherspoon's mega pub, knocking out booze at about 2/3 of the price of most other pubs has nothing to do with it and it's all down to drunk celebrities?

An interestingly tangential approach to reality, Mr Martin...

Mike, Tunbridge Wells, UK

I am at present living in Spain and I wholeheartedly agree with his comment: “What I am saying is more complex than a celebrity issue. It is a cultural issue and a symptom of that is the glorification [of drinking] by celebrities ... French and Italians drink more than we do and behave better ..." The Spanish a very family orientated and they do like to drink, but as a consequence, you see whole families in Bars and no-one gets drunk and incapable. In the UK it is a cultural problem. He is just raising the issue. How the drinking problem in the UK can be changed, I haven't a clue, but I do remember that in Australia a while ago, they had a TV campaign against litter, and it seemed to change the public perception of litter there. I know litter and drinking are different, but surely there must be some way to help change the public perception of drinking in the UK. What it is, I for one have no idea, but I am pleased the article has raised the issue.

Neil Graham, Mula, Murcia, Spain

Well Mr Martin, maybe your profits are down because you wont let people like me and my two extreemly well behaved sons enjoy a glass of wine and two fruit juices in your pub. Our custom goes elsewhere.

Stephen Jones, Kualar Lumpur, Malaysia

Can't believe their food sales are so strong as they're absolutely awful. Ever eaten a Wetherspoons burger? You wouldn't eat 2!

Neil, Birmingham, U.K

So Mr. Martin blames the elebrities for bad behavior in pubs then, nothing to do with the cheap be he sells! As for the smoking ban however, this has gone a long way to ruining pubs. As a non smoker, as is my wife, but frequent pub visitors, we no longer visit pubs, their is no atmosphere, the non smokers who professed they would be encouraged to visit pubs once smoking had been banned, don't, and smokers spend more time outside then inside. In Newton Abbot, Wetherspoons make a big play of banning smoking, legally on there outside terrace, nice picture in the paper, local councillors. No sign of anyone when smoking was allowed their again.!! Finally, the smell of body odours of all kinds is much worse than cigarette smoke in our opinion.

colin millin, teignmouth, devon

Can this man really be as stupid as he sounds? I mean, let me get this right, because 'celebrities' get drunk (which they've never done in the past, obviously), it absolves alcohol sellers of all responsibility, due to the fact that us mere mortals are so shallow, vacuous and easily lead that if we see (add nano-celeb of choice) looking worse for wear after a night out, we'll automatically assume that that's the way we must behave. There are 2 Wetherspoons within drinking distance of my house, and on the occasions I've nipped in for a swift-half, I've often been greeted by a number of my 16-year old neice's friends - all drunk, all under-age, all being served alcohol by JD 'responsible retailer' Wetherspoon. From now on, I'll bear Mr Martin's comments in mind and simply blame Kate, Amy, Pete and the rest of them. Cheers.

bruno, liverpool,