Pub landlords have been angered by Tony Blair's suggestion they should pay for the behaviour of drunken louts.

The Prime Minister has mooted the idea of making landlords pay for damage caused by drinkers after they have left pubs and clubs.

He said it would save police time and public money and that landlords profiting from alcohol sales should bear some responsibility for drunken vandals.

But the suggestion has caused outrage among landlords in Brighton and Hove.

Trevor Hughes, who owns The Prince Arthur pub in Dean Street, Brighton, said: "Publicans pay a lot of money in rates as it is. The greater our turnover, the more rates we pay.

"Regarding the police, I've had to call them twice and I've been here nine years. And now I'm expected to pay more?

"What about all the shops in the High Street which call the police three or four times a day? Shouldn't they have to pay?

"The Government always wants to squeeze publicans. It wants the pubs to pay for everything and seems to think we are a bottomless pit."

Mr Hughes said smaller pubs would be hit hardest by the rule.

Landlord Derek Henderson, whose pub The Stag in Upper Bedford Street was targeted by robbers in October, said: "It should be the landlord's responsibility to keep drinkers in check in the pub but once they've left it's out of our hands."

Launching a government consultation exercise called "The Big Conversation", Mr Blair said tackling crime was one of the major policy areas needing imaginative review.

He said: "Are we really prepared to take the measures that would burst open organised crime even though that will mean curtailing important civil liberties?

"As you can see, the policy choices before us are hard and there are obvious risks but it is time to take risks."

Other possibilities mooted include banning smoking in public and tackling binge drinking.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: "If the Prime Minister means pub landlords shouldn't serve people who are drunk, it could be argued they are partly responsible for certain cases of excessive drunkenness.

"Taxpayers would certainly welcome some help with damage caused by drunk people.

"But it could be complex establishing exactly which landlord is responsible if, for example, someone has been on a pub crawl."