A POLITICIAN has criticised a student drinks promotion she says is dangerous and could lead to city centre violence.

Yates's Wine Lodge, in North Road, Durham, has launched a student card that entitles holders to 25 per cent off drinks and the right to jump the queue on weekends.

Carol Woods, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Durham City, has launched a campaign to have it stopped.

"This sort of promotion encourages binge drinking and will cause problems in the city," she said.

The student card, which costs £1, carries a warning asking the carrier to drink responsibly.

Councillor Woods, the city council's cabinet member for finance, said: "I don't think making offers of cheap drink will encourage responsible drinking.

"We want to encourage people to enjoy a night out without binge drinking and I don't think this offer is helping us achieve that."

She also believes the queue jumping offer could lead to friction between students and the local community.

"This is a really irresponsible offer and looks set to cause trouble in North Road on Friday and Saturday nights," she said.

"Allowing any group of people to jump the queue is bound to make all the rest of the people in the queue annoyed and could lead to arguments and worse.

"I hope Yates's will withdraw their offer, which discriminates against local people who are not students and try harder to find a promotion that encourages people to enjoy a night out, whoever they are, without drinking more for less money."

Yates's manager Colin Smith declined to comment. No one was available for comment at the company's head office yesterday.