PUB and nightclub bosses could be made to pay for late-night patrols to crack down on boozy behaviour in Southampton.

The proposals to order nightspot owners to contribute towards the costs were first mooted in an inquiry into antisocial behaviour earlier this year. The council's head of community safety brushed aside calls to drop the idea, claiming it needed to keep all options open.

A report submitted to the inquiry blamed yob culture on poor parenting skills and a heavy drinking culture among the city's youth.

Just two city council workers - one of them part-time - were dealing with up to 250 complaints at any one time from people plagued by vandalism and foul behaviour.

A key recommendation called for council officers to investigate ways in which the owners of bars and clubs in the city centre could make financial contributions towards the cost of problems. The ruling Lib Dem group has been urged to adopt the report's recommendations, which also included educating parents.

The Tory party had its motion of scrapping the controversial payments plans from pubs outvoted.

Councillor Royston Smith said venue bosses already paid enough in taxes alone to help pay towards safety initiatives.

Councillor Liz Mizon, Cabinet member for communities and regeneration, insisted she had to investigate all avenues of funding to crack down on the problem.

She said: "In some of those clubs it's cheaper to buy a shot of vodka than buy a glass of water. The whole ethos in these clubs is to get kids to drink more than is good for them and the result is that kids go out on to the streets and cause trouble. The council needs to be free to look at every way possible to limit the damage done by too much alcohol."

Pub bosses hit out at the plans.

Ken Gentles, of the Licensed Victuallers' Association in Southampton, said: "It's a social problem rather than a landlord's problem.

"It's so complex that the easiest way out is to find somebody to pay for somebody else's misdemeanours and public houses are easy targets."

Labour leader June Bridle also voted against Conservative calls to scrap the plans.

She said: " "This is a very important debate because this is the issue on the doorsteps, on the letters page of the Daily Echo and on many other pages as well."

The Lib Dems backed the recommendations and said they were launching a task force to look at the problem. The high-profile team will include members of the city council's Cabinet as well as police chiefs.