A new council report claims it would be “preferable” for underage teenagers to drink in pubs rather than gather in parks or on street corners.

The dossier claims adolescents would be safer and less likely to cause antisocial behaviour if they were under the watchful eye of bar staff and adult drinkers.

The review, by an in-house Brighton and Hove City Council think-tank of councillors and others, links a rise in problematic "park drinking" culture with successful crackdowns on underage sales in pubs.

It said in recent years large groups of teens had started to gather to drink in public places, resulting in vandalism and antisocial behaviour.

It argues that: "Given that a certain level of U18 drinking is probably inevitable, it might in fact be preferable if this drinking took place in pubs rather than other, objectively more risky, environments."

The report has shocked parents, publicans and the police.

Edwina Williams, from Hove, who has a teenage son and daughter, said: "The council should really be concentrating on providing good quality, affordable facilities for young people instead of coming up with ideas like this, which seems to be encouraging children to drink in pubs."

The document said pubs traditionally kept underage drinking in check by only tolerating people whose behaviour did not disturb others, and that they were unlikely to put up with larger groups.

In recent years there have been a series of problems with police having to disperse groups of drinking teenagers from areas including the beach, Palmeira Square, Preston Park, Surrenden Park and Fiveways.

In May a 14-year-old girl from Hove had to be taken to A&E when she was found semi-conscious after drinking half a litre of vodka.

Mikey Dunne, manager of the Stanmer Park Tavern, in Fiveways, Brighton, said he could see the point being made by the council but disagreed with it.

He said: "There will always be an immaturity with underage drinkers. Because alcohol is new to them they go overboard and get bladdered, then you get the trouble and violence that go with that.

"I wouldn't want 17-year-olds being allowed to come into pubs, it wouldn't make it any better. It is more important to stop them getting too much alcohol elsewhere."

Chief Inspector Laurence Taylor, Sussex Police's head of neighbourhood policing in Brighton and Hove, argued that park drinking had not increased.

He said it had been kept under control by the city's Operation Park and statistics showed a decrease, with the number of first time young offenders dropping by 40% in a year.

Chf Insp Taylor said allowing teenagers in pubs would not be necessary or helpful and added that work to reduce underage drinking was ongoing.

He said: "I'm not going to endorse law breaking. We have laws for a reason. I don't think putting children in a pub watching adults drinking necessarily teaches them to drink sensibly."

Despite describing pub drinking as preferable, the report concludes it would be legally impossible to carry out.

Instead it recommends a continued crackdown on off-licences and the growing problem of adults buying alcohol for under 18s.

The report, titled Reducing Alcohol Related Harm To Children And Young People, was considered by the city's Children and Young People's Trust board this evening.

Chairwoman Vanessa Brown, the council's cabinet member for young people, accepted the recommendations.

She described the issue of underage drinking as a "mega-problem" for the city.

Coun Brown said: "We are not advocating underage drinking in pubs, we would not advocate anything illegal, but it was part of the considerations for the report. The panel were trying to make the point that if youngsters are in a pub there are people around who can see what's going on and monitor their safety."

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