The Safer Portsmouth Partnership is distributing 5,000 alcohol awareness guides around the city, warning revellers that too much drink increases the risk of impotence.

Partygoers in Cardiff, meanwhile, are being warned by one council-run campaign - which advises on getting home safely - that "too much drink will do nothing for your looks".

Another campaign directed at drinkers in the Welsh capital carries a more chilling message.

"Drinking to excess can bring out the worst in us and in extreme cases even lead to murder," warns the Enough is Enough campaign - a joint initiative launched by the police and the church in Wales.

Elsewhere, the message is being taken directly to the streets and bars.

Men visiting toilets in a number of Liverpool pubs and clubs will be confronted with the message "XXXX marks the spot", which lights up when urinated on.

Out on Liverpool's streets, electronic sandwich boards are being used in the fight against binge-drinking.

This year's Pssst! campaign, run by the local Primary Care Trust (PCT), sees "electro jacket squads" walking around the city centre displaying anti-binge-drinking message boards.

One of these bears the slogan "Chardonnay girls just want to have fun!" above a picture of a woman passed out beside a wine bottle, her make-up smeared over her face.

The initiative comes as the biggest-ever survey of alcohol use in the North West showed increasing numbers of people are avoiding city centres because of the drunken behaviour of others, Liverpool PCT said.

Chairman Gideon Ben-Tovim said: "On some weekends in Liverpool, A&E admissions which are alcohol-related can be as high as 70 per cent.

"At this time of year it is even more important that people are made aware about the dangers of drinking too much and encouraged to enjoy alcohol in a safe environment."

In Glasgow, drunk punters with minor injuries will be prevented from clogging up hospital casualty wards, with the deployment of medics on the streets.

During the festive season, an ambulance will patrol the city centre and paramedics will treat minor alcohol-related complaints on the spot.

A static first-aid post outside Central Station will offer the same service.

But if another initiative works - the deployment by Glasgow Community and Safety Services of "concierges" to escort drunk revellers into taxis at the end of the night and prevent taxi queue fights - there may be fewer bloody noses to mop up.

However, the initiatives have been accused of diminishing the need for personal responsibility and dubbed a waste of taxpayers' money.

The TaxPayers' Alliance argued that the emergency services should not have to nanny drunks who have trouble getting home.

"A huge amount of money is being spent on what are essentially gimmicks," said campaign director Mark Wallace. "The emergency services would rather they were allowed to get on with enforcing the law and dealing with emergencies than being used as nursemaids for drunk people.

"We don't need more frills and freebies, we need more emphasis on personal responsibility. The wrong message is being sent out at the moment."