PUB landlords say supermarkets will benefit the most from the relaxation of the drinks laws.

Bar owners in Bolton say most pubs will not stay open 24-hours a day - giving supermarkets selling alcohol around the clock a clear path.

Asda has already said it is considering applying for an all-night alcohol licence.

Legislation allowing 24-hour opening hours is due to come into force in November.

John Jewitt, landlord of Ye Olde Man & Scythe pub, and Nick Hogan, owner of The Swan, both on Churchgate, Bolton, are fighting for awareness of what they believe could be a wider problem.

Both say large stores such as Asda will be the only places in the borough where late-night drinkers will be able to buy booze.

The pair are defending publicans against claims that the 24-hour drinking law will line pub pockets at the expense of their binge-drinking customers' safety.

Mr Jewitt, who is also secretary of the Bolton Town Centre Licensees' Alliance, said: "All the furore about the 24-hour drinking law is crackers - there will be no 24-hour drinking because the trade is not there.

"Even if pubs wanted to open all night there would not be enough customers to make it worthwhile.

"Under this new legislation it is the big superstores, like Asda at Astley Bridge, that will be the only places where you can get a drink 24-hours-a-day."

Nick Hogan, who also owns The Waterside pub in Summerseat and The Holden Arms in Helmshore, Rossendale, said: "Asda sells alcohol at cheaper prices than we publicans can buy it.

"They are giving the stuff away, but they don't have all the responsibilities that publicans have."

He said he had problems with customers who bought discounted alcohol and took it into the pub to top up their bar-bought drinks.

He said: "It is not the publicans who are discounting, it is the off-licences."

The Ikon club on Bridge Street, Bolton, and J2, on Nelson Square, have no plans to apply for a 24-hour licence.

Tom Moloney, manager at Ikon, said: "The latest I can see us going to is 4am. By that time people have had enough anyway."

None of the seven biggest pub chains in the country, including Wetherspoons and Bolton-based Yates's have any plans to allow 24-hour drinking, according to research by the industry magazine the Morning Advertiser.

Greg Pickles, licensing officer for Greater Manchester Police, said: "Supermarkets are an overlooked part of the drinking problem.

"In my experience, a lot of people drink vastly discounted drinks at home from supermarkets and big off-licences.

"The licensed premises then have to pick up the problems started by the supermarkets."

Opponents of the proposed law, which include the Conservative Party, claim that 24-hour drinking will lead to a serious increase in the so-called "binge-drinking" epidemic in Britain.

Ed Watson, a spokesman for Asda, said the company was considering applying for an all-night alcohol licence.

But he said: "Our objective is to be a responsible retailer and that applies to every product we sell."