They claim that the tough new regulations which came into force this week will instead penalise those who sell and drink alcohol responsibly.

In some cases, members of the licensed trade have spent a fortune on fees, staff training and making alterations to their premises.

And as they count the cost of the new Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, they wonder if the investment will pay the dividend the Scottish Government is looking for.

Banff publican Dave Fusco believes the old law worked well, but the powers it had to take problem premises to task were not always used.

He is adamant the availability of cheap booze in supermarkets is the root cause of anti-social behaviour that often goes hand-in-hand with people drinking to excess.

"If alcohol was not so readily available in such copious amounts people would not be staying at home drinking all night and then coming out to the pubs at 10pm," said Mr Fusco, of the Market Arms.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be allowed to drink at home, but if you are in the pub, the drinking is controlled. The public then benefits because people are drinking in a sensible way.

"I feel the new law attacks the responsible businesses more than it attacks the businesses that are behaving irresponsibly." The legislation has introduced a raft of new measures, including a ban on happy hours and cut-price drinks promotions in bars.

Shops with an off-sales licence will only be able to sell alcohol within a designated area and not alongside other goods.

All premises must now also have a designated manager with a personal licence to sell drink, and staff must undertake training courses.

Members of the trade feel Aberdeenshire licensing officials have been helpful in advising premises how to comply with the new legislation, and say confusion over how it will operate is down to the Scottish Government.

Businessman Des Cheyne has an on-sales licence for the Seafield nightclub and off-sales for his Costcutter stores in Banff and Macduff.

He has had to pay out around £7,000 for all three premises to comply with the Act, and that is without any major alterations.

Mr Cheyne said the off-sales trade had been "kept in the dark" over how they should now be operating drinks promotions and pricing.

He added: "Personally, I am all for the new licensing, but things have not been thought through properly. There has been a lot of unnecessary expense, and I am a bit annoyed that the Government has not been more open about it with the public.

"I agree that something has to be done about underage drinking and binge drinking, but I do not think this is going to help. Why should folk who are responsible be penalised by doing away with price promotions? It's the minority spoiling it for everyone else." Richard Parker runs Parker Gifts on Banff's Low Street and specialises in fine malt whiskies and top-end alcohol brands. He has had to make alterations to the store to comply with the legislation, which he says was not well prepared and pushed through too quickly.

"We are a specialist outlet selling Scotland's national drink, but we are being tarred with the same brush as premises selling alcopops," said Mr Parker.

"I think the new legislation is over the top, especially for what we do, and I think the same kind of exemption applied to distillery visitor centres should have applied to shops like ours.

"This is not going to harm the business, but it is certainly going to put some strain on the business with all the additional costs." Terry Rotherham, of the Aul Fife in Banff, believes that a minimum pricing structure for alcohol could be the solution needed for addressing the nation's drink problems, but can understand why the Scottish Government has gone down the route of the new Licensing Act.

He said: "There is an issue on the legality of minimum pricing and whether it will be challenged by the European courts. That could take years to introduce, but this legislation has come in in two years.

"This is not going to achieve what the Government thinks it is going to achieve. Single owners will adhere to it, but no doubt the big boys and the supermarkets will devote a lot of time and effort into finding a way around it."

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