Home Secretary Charles Clarke has pledged to personally investigate a ruling which led to the scrapping of a scheme to stop cheap booze being sold in Bradford pubs.

The minimum price initiative, introduced last September at 20 city centre pubs and bars, was hailed by police as a success in reducing drunken violence.

But it had to be withdrawn after the Office of Fair Trading wrote to police advising that it may be illegal.

The OFT's tough stance came after a drinker in Nottingham successfully argued that the city's £1.50 a pint minimum price agreement broke competition laws.

The OFT wrote to Bradford South Police's licensing inspector, Mick Chippindale, asking him to withdraw the scheme because it breached the 1998 Competition Act.

But Mr Clarke expressed his concern about the decision after he was told about it by the Telegraph & Argus.

And he promised to tackle the issue himself.

He said: "I am concerned to hear about the scheme being withdrawn. It is exactly the kind of thing we are seeking to promote. I will look into the case directly."

Mr Clarke said there had been an issue with the Office of Fair Trading on the question of binge drinking but it had recently acknowledged that voluntary codes to prevent irresponsible drinks promotions were acceptable.

He added: "The OFT shouldn't try to get in the way of that. I hope it would be prepared to work with the police and responsible parties in enforcing a code which drives out the irresponsible promotion of alcohol."

Insp Chippindale said: "I am disappointed with the view of the OFT when licensees were working with the police on this issue.

"The minimum price scheme had a positive impact and we had a significant reduction in violent crime.

"We are pleased to hear the Home Secretary is taking an interest. We need a steer from the Government and the OFT as to what we can and can't do with licensees."

Minimum prices were agreed in the West End after weeks of negotiations between pub and club bosses, police and licensing officers.

The move was intended to curb binge drinking and drunken violence in the city centre by setting the minimum price for a pint of beer or lager at £1.50, bottled beer at £1.20 and spirits at £1 a shot or more.

Insp Chippindale said police and licensees were still working closely together on the sensible sale of alcohol in the West End.

He said: "Although we no longer have a minimum pricing policy, licensees continue to work with us to tackle the problem of alcohol-related violence.

"We have regular meetings and they are still selling alcohol at sensible prices, while attracting people into the city centre."

Earlier this month, shock new Home Office figures revealed that six violent attacks take place in the bars of West Yorkshire every day.

The county was ranked the ninth worst of the 36 police forces in England and Wales for the number of violent offences committed in connection with licensed premises.

John Collins, chief executive of the Bar, Entertainment and Dance Association (BEDA), said the price of alcohol influenced the levels of violence.

He said: "The cheaper it is, the more people consume and the more volatile they become, and the more likely it is you are going to get violence at the end of the night.

"Minimum pricing schemes can form the platform for a partnership approach between police, the council and the trade to improve matters on the ground, which is what Mick Chippindale was trying to do."

A spokesman for the OFT said that if traders got together, even at the instigation of the police, to determine a minimum price, they were likely to fall foul of the Competition Act.

But police or a local authority had the power to impose minimum prices as part of the granting of a licence.

She said: "We cannot change the Competition Act. We are purely looking at competition and how schemes would fall within the Act."