Chief superintendent Anne McGuire, commander of Strathclyde Police’s A division, acknowledged that people feel intimidated in some of the busiest areas of the city, which attract around 100,000 revellers on a typical weekend, but she denied that it was “unsafe” to venture out on to the streets at night.

She said that encouraging a wider range of age groups into pubs and clubs would help to change the reputation of the city centre and assist moves to alter the drinking culture in the long term.

“There is a certain age profile of people in the city of an evening,” she said. “It is predominantly a young age-group, under-25s heading to the pubs and clubs.

“The reality is it is boisterous, it is noisy but it is not unsafe. But sometimes boisterousness and noisiness conjures up a fear and people feel intimidated.

“I would like to see that [age-group] diversified. People potentially would feel safer if it was diversified. The reality may be the same but they would feel safer.”

Ms McGuire’s comments come after Stephen House, chief constable of Strathclyde Police, called for people to stop drinking at home and return to pubs and clubs to help stem a rise in violent attacks committed in private residences.

Pub and club owners welcomed his support but accused police and government of interfering in the licensed trade, by carrying out high numbers of visits to premises and introducing excessive red tape to the industry.

Ms McGuire said that visits to the 955 licensed premises in her division were made in a “proportionate” manner and pubs and clubs were only monitored closely if there were concerns about drug misuse, violence or drunkenness.

She said: “Since we started working closely with licensed premises our figures have plummeted in relation to the amount of violence in premises. In February 12.3% of violent crime was occurring in licensed premises. It has been constantly going down and in August it was 5.3%.

“That is because of positive action taken by licence holders and staff. That has been very encouraging and it has made the streets a lot safer.”

In February, shortly after Ms McGuire began focusing on the licensed trade in the city centre, members of the industry took the unprecedented step of making a formal complaint to Mr House about allegations of police threats and harassment.

A peace summit followed and Ms McGuire insisted yesterday that her officers now have a close working relationship with the Late-night Operators Association, which represents some of the biggest names in the industry.

She said that the co-operation of licensed traders to clamp down on excessive alcohol consumption was essential to change the city’s nightlife culture.

“One of the fuels [for violence] can be alcohol,” she said. “If we control the alcohol and the responsible sale and supply you can then impact positively on the issue of violence.

“People don’t just come into the city to drink, they come in to socialise. If they are not able to socialise and they are being excluded from pubs and clubs I would hope that the sheer motivation of why they want to come into the city would overcome the issue of the [drinking at home] culture.

“People would come in in a much more sober state. The key would be the socialising aspect rather than drink.”

In less than a year in the post of commander of A division, chief superintendent Anne McGuire has become no stranger to controversy.

Allegations of robust ­methods employed by officers were made by licensed traders within the first few weeks of her appointment and she was later blamed by some for the downgrading of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band.

But Ms McGuire, who joined the force in 1979, yesterday brushed aside the criticism.

“I have been long enough in this job to be resilient,” she said. “Resilience is essential. You have got to learn to take the blows. Sometimes it is disappointing because what you are doing is all about public safety and public service. It can be a hard slog but I try to leave my job at the door of the office.”

Ms McGuire was commander of North Lanarkshire before being transferred to headquarters to oversee the Community Policing Model, the return of the “bobbies on the beat”, and late last year was appointed commander of A division.

She is now one of the most senior female police officers in Scotland and juggles her career with her role as a mother of three sons.

Ms McGuire said that although the face of the force had changed since she joined, she hoped that more women would be encouraged to climb up the ranks.

She said: “In the past the police had been an alpha male culture. That has gradually been diluted and the profession is much better for it.

“It is not all about brawn. Probably the way I deal with things is not necessarily as a man would deal with it. But diversity in any profession is very healthy.”

A review of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band is due to be completed next month but Ms McGuire insisted that no final decision has been made.

Meanwhile, she insisted that relations with licensed traders had improved and violence in premises had fallen. “It was a very limited issue, for a limited number of premises,” she said.

“It was perhaps a very different approach to that which had been taken previously. People feel uncomfortable with change.

“We have a very open and positive relationship now and there is a true acceptance that the change which took place was necessary in that it has resulted in very positive changes.”