Beer duty increase will call time on pubs and jobs say campaigners

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said the average tax on a pub pint would now exceed £1 after Mr Osborne decided to impose a 7.2 per cent rise in beer duty.

Camra said it feared the price of a pint of beer would rise by 10p from Monday, driving away customers and leading to the closure of more pubs, currently running at 25 a week.

One casualty of the Budget could be Mathers Black Beer, a tipple only brewed in West Yorkshire which until yesterday had benefited from tax relief because it was traditionally thought to have medicinal benefits.

The Treasury confirmed it was scrapping excise relief for the drink as part of plans to simplify the tax system – a move which could add £1 to the price of a bottle.

Vicky Lee, marketing director of Continental Wine and Food, which makes the beer, said the decision was “another nail in the coffin for this special and historic brand”.

Beer tax has increased by more than a third since 2008, pushing the average price of a pint above £2.84 for real ale and £3.02 for lager.

Camra chief executive Mike Benner said: “It is incredible to consider that Britain’s beer drinkers are forced to endure the second highest rate of beer tax in Europe, particularly when the Prime Minister promised a pub-friendly Government with the pub at the heart of the Big Society.

“By penalising the vast majority of responsible pub-goers, the Government is not getting to the root of the problem, which remains cheap alcohol sold in an irresponsible manner in the off-trade.”

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “This will not raise any more money for the Treasury, cost 10,000 jobs this year alone and see many more pubs close.

“This policy hampers growth and damages pubs and the communities which rely on them.”

But Ms Simmonds backed the Government’s decision to impose a reduced 50 per cent tax rate on weaker beers, adding that it would act as a “spur to innovation” in the industry and “should help nudge consumers towards lower-strength drinks”.