Pub and shop owners who failed to comply with alcohol legislation have been warned to expect a dry Christmas under newly-enforced laws.
Thousands of hospitality and retail jobs hang in the balance as a legal deadline for personal licence training has passed.
Councils are scrambling to contact as many “stragglers” as possible before they send out letters banning the sale of alcohol.
Experts have warned unlicensed managers could lose their jobs while other workers’ posts would also be at risk.
It is understood as many as 2,000 licence holders have missed the deadline across Fife, Dundee, Angus, and Perthshire and Kinross.
In a “patchwork” of local authority responses to this, Fife Council has given 766 licensees until Friday to return completed training.
Businesses are otherwise advised to write in with details of a new manager, which would take six weeks to grant keeping businesses open over the festive period.
However, each council has its own methods of dealing with latecomers.
In Angus, the council has issued three reminders to 215 licence holders since March this year, and is “reviewing” information before contacting them again, while Perth and Kinross awaits 480 licensees.
Jack Cummins, a licensing lawyer for major trade operators, said the situation is “pretty bad” in Dundee.
Mr Cummins said: “A minority of boards are giving a slight extension although they’re not supposed to. Some have revoked licences some are about to. With Christmas coming up, it just makes it a little more anxious.
“There are thousands of people across Scotland who have been told they cannot sell alcohol any more they’ve discovered they are in the mire. The last we checked in Dundee, the position is pretty bad.”
Chairman of Fife’s licensing board, Councillor Bob Young, said “the last thing” the council wants is to close premises before Christmas.
“What we’re doing just now is going through the list to see who’s got a pub and hasn’t renewed,” he said.
“We’re writing out to them to put an application in front of us, and then they’ve got six weeks to get the matter cleared up.
“That will take them past the festive period we’ve been more than fair.”
Councillor Alex King, of Angus licensing board, said: “It’s part of the law and if licence holders are not complying they are taking one enormous risk.”
The Courier revealed in April that fewer than 2,000 of Scotland’s 30,000-plus licence holders had complied.