PUB chain boss Tim Martin has  praised Exeter police in their  fight to curb binge drinking.

But the JD Wetherspoon  chairman, who lives in Exeter,  says central government’s attitude towards pubs is “absurd”.

His comments came as the  746-pub chain saw profits, before tax and exceptional items,  rise 17.5 per cent to £36.2m in the  six months to January 24. Total  sales were up 4.1 per cent at  £488.1m.

The pub chain owns the Imperial, George’s Meeting House  and the Chevalier in Exeter plus  other pubs throughout the region.

Mr Martin criticised the Government for instructing police  forces to recruit and employ  people under 18 to attempt to  buy alcohol under officers’ supervision.

He said such a practice was a  “confrontational and dictatorial approach”.

 He added: “This   form of entrapment is prohibited in most  areas of the law.”

He said publicans faced “devastating financial and personal   consequences” if they were   caught selling drinks to under 18s.

“It is right to try to tackle the  issue of binge drinking,” he  said. “But the Government has  gone for headline-grabbing  stunts, which involve police recruiting people under 18 and  sending them into pubs under  police supervision to try to  catch out publicans.

“I don’t think this solves the  underlying problem,  which is a  cultural one.

“Positive action is being done  through schemes such as Best  Bar None and Pub Watch,  which involve co-operation.

“I have to say that in my  experience in Exeter, the police  have adopted a pragmatic approach and genuinely try and  minimise misbehaviour, which  is to everyone’s benefit.”

Mr Martin said pubs offered  supervised drinking and were  often “invaluable” parts of communities.

He said that with increased  pressure on pubs, more could be  forced to close which would see  a rise in unsupervised drinking  and potentially exacerbate   problems.

“Everyone knows that people  in Britain won’t always behave  well all the time when they’ve  had a drink,” he said.

“But there is no point in Gordon Brown trying to pretend to  the public that he is a big, strong  prime minister by closing down  pubs.”

Mr Martin also criticised “red  tape and greatly increased  taxes” for pubs, saying they had  led to closures in “unprecedented numbers”.

Pubs staying open benefited  the Government, Mr Martin  said, adding that a chain like his  paid more tax on alcohol than  supermarkets and employed  more people per pint.

Mr Martin said Wetherspoon  would create even more jobs  with plans to open at 7am from  Wednesday, April 28, to cater  for the growing demand in the  breakfast market — a move,   he  said, which was popular with  consumers in the USA and Australia.

He said the early morning  opening could increase the  one-third of sales in the chain  which are  food related.

Mr Martin praised his staff  for the firm’s success despite  the tough economic conditions.  Wetherspoon pays monthly bonuses for all staff from a percentage of the profits.