A pub crawl firm offering a “recession-friendly” £10 drinking session has been criticised by police and health charities.

Punters in Brighton can take advantage of six free drinks on an organised tours of city-centre bars.

The pub crawls, organised by a company called Boozedbrighton.com, have only just been introduced in the city.

The tour, described by the company's website as the only weekly pub crawl in Brighton, takes in seven different bars including Yates's, Walkabout and Oxygen in West Street.

Yesterday the company defended the tours, which began last Friday offering 13 free drinks, and claimed they were supervised by trained, professional guides.

Seven free shots have now been dropped from the offer.

Senior police officers and health charities reacted angrily to the events.

Inspector Vicki Harris, Sussex Police's head of licensing for Brighton and Hove, said she had not heard of the events until she was contacted by The Argus.

She said: “I have not heard of this company but I am very concerned to hear of them encouraging binge drinking to this extent which is very unhealthy and can lead to social order problems.

“Trading Standards may well be interested and I will certainly be speaking to the venues that are hosting these promotions to ensure that there will be no breaches of conditions and that venues continue to promote the licensing objectives as is required under the Licensing Act.

“We have plenty of successful bar crawls usually organised through the students’ unions who work with us and coordinate with us. This company has had no contact with us and I will now be looking into their operation.”

MPs nationally have called for a ban on cheap alcohol offers and police and licensing officers in Brighton and Hove have vowed to crackdown on bars where cut-price “happy hour” drinks promotions are linked to a rise in violence or disorder.

During the pub crawl punters are given wristbands as they follow guides dressed in red T-shirts.

Krystle Burke, co-founder of Boozedbrighton.com, said: “What we are doing is running a recurring, professional bar crawl. We don't want carnage and out of control drinking.

“We have professional, trained guides who make sure that groups don't get too rowdy and out of control. We had 25 people on our first event on Friday and three guides and there were no problems.”

Ms Burke, 21, and originally from Canada, said she plans to meet police this week and is in touch with the council about the venture.

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Each weekend the city welcomes hundreds of visitors who enjoy the vibrant nightlife in Brighton and Hove and this council is committed to keeping them safe and promoting sensible drinking.

“Partnership working with the police, health services and licensing trade in managing the night time economy has been so successful that we recently achieved Beacon status.

“Therefore we are concerned to hear of any initiative which may encourage excessive or irresponsible drinking. If the event organisers would like to contact us, we would be pleased to provide information and advice to help ensure that those taking part have a safe and enjoyable night out.”