“It should really have a certain attraction of a rather sombre kind as a place where something terrible happened; there are, after all, places on the Western Front and that sort of thing that have such an attraction for families who have lost people there.
“There are some attractive Victorian buildings, but roughly two thirds of the shops in the main street are derelict, and there were lots of kids hanging around the place smoking, drinking and so on.
“It was not in the least attractive.”
Mr Harvie was also scathing about Botchergate in Carlisle, branding it a “ booze alley”.
The comments unleashed a storm of protest from opposition politicians that had the MSP apologising within hours.
He said: “I do apologise for certain comments. I certainly was wrong, I think, to use Lockerbie as an example.
“On the other hand, in some of the other areas there is the general problem of town centre dereliction, the problems of direction with kids, and the problems with a booze culture.”
South of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP, has written to Mr Harvie inviting him to tour the town.
“He quite clearly needs to spend more time in the town to realise what a jewel in Dumfriesshire it actually is,” he said.
Dumfriesshire Tory MP David Mundell took up the sensitive issue of the PanAm bombing which killed 270 in the town, alluded to by Mr Harvie.
“I think Mr Harvie’s remarks demonstrate a remarkable ignorance of the situation of the events of 1988 — particularly his comparison of the situation in Lockerbie to World War I battle sites,” he said.
“The community has worked hard over the last 20 years to move forward from the events of 1988 and these sorts of remarks and suggestions are completely unhelpful.”
South of Scotland Tory MSP Derek Brownlee described the comments as an “appalling insult to Lockerbie.”
He said: “It is astonishing that during a debate on how to increase tourism, Christopher Harvie decided instead to launch a vitriolic attack on the town based on one passing visit.”
And Dumfries Labour MSP, Elaine Murray, has submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament condemning the remarks.
She said: “He (Professor Harvie) obviously has no knowledge whatsoever of the town and seems to have based his views on an unplanned bus journey.
“His suggestion that somehow Lockerbie should market itself on the back of the Pan Am disaster is in appallingly bad taste.”
Mr Harvie’s colleague, South of Scotland MSP and Scottish environment minister Mike Russell dubbed “demanding apologies” as the “knee jerk reaction of over sensitive MSPs”.
He said: “Chris is a colourful figure and we live in a society where freedom of speech is paramount. But even Chris would admit he didn’t tell the full story.
“It is unfortunate that in the case of Lockerbie, the language used was a bit over the top.
“That is not fair to the people of Lockerbie. As I know from personal experience, they have a lot to be proud of — and I will continue to champion the town's virtues.
“Like many small towns in Scotland, however, it is being neglected and the pressure of large stores is driving out small business.”
