Ross Kemp: Extreme World starts tonight and rates the city alongside Mexico, Kenya and Tanzania where drugs, religiously motivated terrorism and people-trafficking are commonplace.

But Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, has branded the comparisons "ridiculous"

And he has hit out at what he describes as an outmoded and selective portrayal of Glasgow's battle against alcohol, drugs and crime.

Mr Patrick said: "It is based entirely on outmoded stereotypes and sends out a dangerous message.

"For a programme like this to appear now, just as we are about to launch a campaign attracting visitors to the city for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is potentially very damaging.

"Anyone who knows Glasgow might laugh off what is patently a cynical marketing ploy to flog an increasingly tired programme format.

"But stories like this unquestionably have a negative impact upon attracting inward investment."

The Sky 1 show focuses on a 46-year-old alcoholic who broke off five of his own toes and kept them in a jar after developing severe frostbite in his unheated flat.

However, a spokesman for Glasgow City Council said the individual concerned refused multiple offers of help before taking part in the Sky documentary.

Other episodes in the series include a look inside Venezuela's most notorious prison, South America's kidnapping gags and a profile of Tanzania's trade in the bones of albinos.

vivienne.nicoll@ eveningtimes.co.uk

Ross Kemp: Extreme World, Sky1, 9pm