IT is very understandable why Bolton Primary Care Trust is urging local bosses to get tough on lunchtime drinkers, but it is really not up to them.

They are protecting our general health and an NHS under siege from patients suffering from alcohol-related illnesses, so they want employees to be actively discouraged from liquid lunches.

The social situations that pubs and restaurants offer do, however, present an opportunity for business to be carried out, and cutting this dramatically could be detrimental.

We all know individuals who can have the odd lunchtime pint or glass of wine with no ill effects, and similarly others who get giddy or suffer poor concentration.

But if an employee is regularly the worse for wear because of lunchtime drinking, surely this is a disciplinary matter? Anyone who can’t do their job properly because they’ve been boozing isn’t earning their pay.

Natural forces and commonsense usually rule effectively in this matter.