Pubs are pushing customers towards unsafe drinking by supersizing their wine glasses, doctors say.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has accused the pub industry of “irresponsibly” fooling people into drinking more. The vast majority of establishments no longer sell wine in 125ml glasses - once regarded as the standard.

Drinkers who order a “standard” glass of wine will be sold a 175ml glass in three out of four pubs and bars, according to a survey by The Publican, a trade magazine. And 14 per cent of pubs sell wine in 250ml glasses - equivalent to a third of a bottle without standing up to go to the bar again.

The same trend is emerging in the serving of spirits: many premises have increased spirit measures from 25 to 35ml and offer doubles as standard.

Ian Gilmore, president of the RCP, said people were drinking significantly more than they realised.

“People want to stay within safe limits, but they are confused and are being pushed up way over those limits,” Gilmore said.

“The industry is being irresponsible and must improve its marketing practices. It isn’t appropriate for alcoholic beverages to be ‘supersized’ in this way.

“Alcohol is not a typical product like soap powder or crisps where marketers might legitimately encourage people to buy more. Alcohol is an addictive substance with adverse health affects and safety risks.”

Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: “Our view is that customers should be offered a choice of different wine glass sizes when they are drinking in a pub or restaurant.”

However, The Publican recently advised landlords to “train and incentivise staff to upsell products such as larger measures of wine and spirits”.

Organisations representing licensed premises said their members were in the business of offering customers choice, and they were responding to market demand.

Greg Mulholland, a Liberal Democrat health spokesman, introduced a bill in January that required all licensed premises to also offer the 125ml measure.

Last month, the British Medical Association also accused pubs and bars of being “irresponsible”, calling for an end to promotional activities like happy hours and two-for-one offers.

It also urged standardised labels on bottles and cans that state alcohol units, recommended guidelines for consumption and a warning message saying how exceeding guidelines may cause harm, and called for the drink-driving limit to be reduced from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg per 100ml.

The Good Pub Guide 2006 also noted the “unnerving trend” for licensed premises to push up the size of their wine glasses.

It said: “This isn’t generosity, it’s just a way of getting more money into their tills, leaving many customers drinking more than they want to, and perhaps if they are driving, more than is safe.”

Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association, said the larger glasses were a result of consumer outcry during the 1980s.

“People felt short-changed in pubs because we were selling 125ml glasses,” he told the BBC. “So the pub sector moved to serving us in exactly the same way as people drink in their own homes. In other words it’s what people want to buy.”

If people asked for smaller measures, he said, pubs would produce them to keep their customers happy.

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Drinks

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies