Tim Martin, the chairman of JD Wetherspoon, has accused drunken celebrities of encouraging disorderly behaviour in pubs.

Mr Martin, who has previously suggested that 16 and 17-year-olds would be better off drinking in his pubs than on the streets, said that misbehaviour mainly came from older groups, often influenced by press coverage of disorderly celebrities. He insisted that the behaviour of most Wetherspoons customers is good.

His attack came as the group announced a 13 per cent drop in profits which he blamed on the smoking bans in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The share dropped almost 8 per cent in early trading to 288p.

"This is demonstrated by examples of poor behaviour by a number of celebrities during the recent televised Brit Awards and by habitual drunken celebrations in the context of sporting events and other occasions, which receive huge press coverage.

"This sort of behaviour is not a new phenomenon and is frequently replicated by the general public during birthday parties, stag and hen parties and so on." Mr Martin told Times Online: “What I am saying is more complex than a celebrity issue. It is a cultural issue and a symptom of that is the glorification [of drinking] by celebrities ... French and Italians drink more than we do and behave better ...

"What the government has gone and done is crack down on under age drinking in pubs, which does not address the real issue."

The group has seen its shares fall about 58 per cent in the past year.

Mr Martin also took aim at the government's latest idea to crackdown on under 18-year-olds drinking in pubs and clubs, which he said "is likely to fail".

The group, which announced pre-tax profits of £28.5 million in the six months to January 27, said it had been a "challenging period for the company", but said it believes that the smoking ban is to the long-term advantage of the trade.

Mr Martin said: "We expect second half sales trends to be broadly similar to those of the second quarter, to experience some cost pressures, and therefore have a slightly more cautious outlook for the second half of the financial year."

He said that while bar sales are "likely to recover" as customers adjust to the smoking ban, the exact timing of this is still uncertain. Mr Martin added that future cost pressures exist, such as energy and raw material costs.

In February, the group said that it had seen strong growth in food sales combined with a decline in bar sales. It said that food sales now amount to an average of £8,600 per pub per week, up from £7,900 in 2007, with about 60 per cent of its trade coming from food and drinks associated with meals.

The first half saw the opening of 10 new pubs, bringing the group's total number to 681. It plans to open a total of 23 pubs in this financial year.

JD Wetherspoon said it had paid a total of £6 million in bonuses to employees, 94 per cent of which was paid to people working in its pubs.

The group alluded to what it sees as a problem with private equity groups investing in the pubs sector for the short term.

"Efforts are focused on boosting short-term profits with heavy incentives for senior management combined with considerable capital expenditure on the pubs. The boost to profits is typically not sustainable."

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