ENERGY drinks have been withdrawn at public sports centres in Scotland's biggest city following a campaign to ban the sale of the high-caffeine beverages to children.

Glasgow Life said an audit had found "very small amounts" of an energy drink were being sold at its Glasgow Club sports facilities, which would now be removed from sale.

The move comes in the wake of calls by the Responsible ­Retailing of Energy Drinks (RRED) campaign, founded by Edinburgh councillor Norma Austin-Hart, which wants stores to voluntarily stop selling drinks such as Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, and Relentless to under-16s.

Last year, the Sunday Herald launched the Can It campaign, ­calling on retailers not to sell the drinks to children, with teachers and parents raising concerns they were damaging young people's health and affecting their behaviour.

Earlier this month, Edinburgh Leisure announced it was banning energy drinks from 30 council-owned venues, ranging from the ­Commonwealth Pool to golf clubs.

Austin-Hart, who had written to Glasgow Life urging it to follow the example in Edinburgh, said she was delighted it was now taking a similar stance on energy drinks.

She added: "I will be contacting other council leisure organisations to encourage them to put a similar policy in place.

"We are also keen to see more shops supporting the campaign."

A spokesman for Glasgow Life said: "Water is available at no charge at all 27 Glasgow Club facilities and a range of other options is also provided via vending machines which don't stock energy drinks, as we have no way of monitoring who would access them.

"An internal audit showed very small amounts of one energy drink were sold at two outlets operated by Cordia within Glasgow Club ­facilities. These are being removed from sale."

Labels on energy drinks warn they have a high caffeine content and are not recommended for children. The British Soft Drinks Association also has a code of practice that says high-caffeine soft drinks should not be promoted or marketed to those under 16.

But teachers and parents have raised concerns that pupils are ­drinking as many as four cans a day of the drinks, which can contain anything from 80 milligrams of caffeine - the same as a mug of coffee - to as much as 400mg per can.

A recent survey found one in 20 teenagers had an energy drink before going to school instead of eating a healthy breakfast.

And in October last year, researchers from the World Health Organisation warned that a failure to address the use of energy drinks by young people could lead to a ­"significant public health problem".

The study noted that health risks associated with caffeine ­overdose ranged from palpitations and ­vomiting to convulsions and, in rare cases death. It called for a cap on caffeine levels in the drinks and restrictions on their sale and marketing.

It said: "The risks of heavy consumption of energy drinks among young people have largely gone unaddressed and are poised to become a significant public health problem in the future."

Last year, Lithuania became the first EU state to pass legislation banning the sale of energy drinks to children under 18.