A MEMBER of Glasgow's licensing board has quit after being slammed for supporting an Evening Times Guinness giveaway.

But today David Meikle said he stood by his opinion that the banned St Patrick's Day freebie did not encourage binge drinking.

Despite also quitting the council's planning committee over the controversial Go Ape approval last week, Mr Meikle vowed to continue as a councillor and devote more time to local issues in his Pollokshields ward.

The resignation was prompted by a letter from Strathclyde Licensed Trade Association, which said Mr Meikle's position was "untenable" following his comments last month.

The councillor criticised a decision by the board to warn pub chain O'Neill's that the Guinness promotion - which offered readers a single free pint - breached the city's strict policy banning any offer said to encourage irresponsible drinking.

But at the time, Mr Meikle branded the decision "over the top", saying safeguards had been put in place to ensure readers received only one free pint.

And he said enforcement officers should instead be concentrating on the city's many bars that sell to underage drinkers.

Michael McHugh, of the SLTA, who reported the offer to the licensing board, later contacted officials to say Mr Meikle should go.

In the letter, he said: "How can a member of the licensing board whose duty is to enforce those conditions, set by his colleagues and himself, continue in that position?

"His position is untenable as this undermines the policy conditions themselves and the officers of the council who are instructed to enforce them."

Today Mr McHugh claimed he had not been "going for (Mr Meikle's) scalp" .

Mr McHugh said: "Rules are rules. The whole country thinks it's a stupid idea but we should all be working on a level playing field.

"Whether you are a small licensee or a massive pub chain which can afford to have an offer like this in a newspaper, you have to stick to the rules."

He added: "When the board speaks in public it should speak with one voice. If there is dissent it should go on behind closed doors. In public, members should stick to the party line."

Mr Meikle, the council's sole Tory councillor, said he had previously been considering leaving the board. It was soon to meet three times a week to process hundreds of applications to bring city premises into line with new liquor laws.

He said: "I have decided to stand down because I just don't have the time to give the board the attention it deserves.

"However, in light of my recent comments on the Evening Times/ O'Neill's promotion - which I do not withdraw but which were seen as contrary to board policy - I have taken the opportunity to stand down, ensuring the board's policy is upheld.

"This also means I can devote more time to my other commitments as a local councillor."