A blonde student lifted her glazed eyes to the camera, held up her drink and smiled. She was wearing stockings with a lace slip and had ripped her T-shirt in half to reveal her bra.

She was on an organised pub crawl in which hundreds of undergraduates lurched from bar to bar as they cheered, laughed and downed drink after drink - a sight which seems typical of many university towns. But it is a stereotypical image that students are hoping to shed. The National Union of Students will call this week for a campaign to promote 'responsible drinking' on campuses across the country, in a motion to be put forward at its annual conference .

Students in Derby, York, Liverpool, Wolverhampton and London who support the motion will argue that people feel under peer pressure to drink and are putting themselves at risk of sexual diseases and crime. Others, from Brunel University, will argue that the 'inaccurate portrayal' of students as drunk and irresponsible should be rectified.

'A lot of people look back at their student days and remember what it was like in the time of grants and free education,' said Gemma Tumelty, president of the NUS. 'But now it is such a different demographic. The notion of the stereotypical image of the student sitting and drinking in the bar has gone.'

But the students putting forward the argument have become embroiled in a row after they criticised companies organising pub crawls in university towns, arguing that they encouraged young people to binge-drink. In particular, they named one night known as Carnage UK, which is staged in 15 different cities and will host 300,000 students over the next university year. The students said the company and others like it were putting 'hurdles' in the way of their attempts to encourage responsible drinking.

But the company that runs Carnage UK hit back by releasing a list of events organised by unions across the country that advertised cut-price drinks and appeared to promote heavy drinking. According to the research, many student unions continue to run or promote nights such as 'drink the bar dry', a 'pound a pint' and 'trebles for singles'.

Paul Bahia, who runs the Carnage UK brand, said it was not events such as his that were irresponsible. Releasing examples of student unions heavily discounting alcohol, he said: 'The pricing and offers do not seem to portray that they are making any effort to promote responsible drinking whatsoever.

'At Liverpool University the union used to have a flagship night called Double Vision which offered a double spirit for £1, while York University student union promotes treble shots when you purchase a single shot, via their union website.' Carnage UK, Bahia argued, never discounted alcohol but offered cheap food and free soft drinks.

But the unions are not convinced. Dan Sumners, of the Liverpool Guild of Students, said it was irrelevant that Bahia's event offered free soft drinks and cheap food because the overall 'ethos' was irresponsible. 'They say that they make soft drinks available, but it is very clear what the night is about,' he added.

Sumners admitted that the union had promoted heavily discounted drinks, but said that had now been stopped: 'The decision has been taken this year that we will no longer push cheap alcohol promotions.'

He argued that students did many positive things, such as putting on plays and cultural events, and he hoped that image of them would be promoted over images of drunken nights out.

Meanwhile, Sam Bayley of the York student union pointed to Carnage UK's website, which is filled with pictures of semi-clad women, many of whom appear drunk. 'Look at the name of the bar crawl,' he added. 'Carnage - we would never brand an event like that.'

Bayley claimed that the union was careful to promote responsible drinking. However, he could not deny that its website advertised an external event called 'trebles for singles', where students could buy three shots of drink for the price of one. Nevertheless, he and other student representatives are hoping to spearhead a drive to transform the image of a typical undergraduate.

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said any drink promotions were highly irresponsible: 'Although alcohol is legal, it is still a drug. It should not be used as a loss-leader like soap powder.' He said there was still a university culture that revolved around alcohol, and warned that binge-drinking could lead to violence, date rape, unwanted pregnancies and serious injuries.

Last month an inquest heard how a student from Exeter University drank himself to death after an initiation into the golf society. Gavin Britton, 18, was violently sick after downing a cocktail of shots, cider and wine in November 2006. Students who failed to down their drinks in 30 seconds were being asked to finish a 'penalty shot', it emerged.