World Cup fever sets tills ringing

Licensees and pub operators celebrated a bonanza trading weekend as heatwave temperatures and England's opening World Cup match against Paraguay combined to send beer sales rocketing.

An estimated 18 million customers visited licensed premises across the country for the big match which saw an increase of 11 million pints consumed by sun-drenched punters.

A number of hosts reported record sales with a some seeing increases of up to 40% compared to a normal June Saturday.

With more fine weather predicted for this coming weekend the trade is on standby for another big uplift in business.

Blackpool licensee Adrian Clay saw his Saturday takings at the Litten Tree pub rise from £9,000 to more than £14,000. The pub was filled to its 600 capacity with customers arriving from early in the morning to claim the best seats.

Clay said there was talk of records being broken at pubs all down the Fylde coast as tourists joined home-based supporters to watch the England game. Cahoots bar on Blackpool's main promenade was just one outlet which was reporting record Saturday sales.

Licensee Wayne Ethridge of the Cross Sports Bar, Oldswin-ford, Worcestershire, erected a special marquee in his car park to cope with demand. A capacity 350 people filled it with a further 150 in the pub and by midday people were being turned away.

"I charged £10 per ticket which covers all England's group games and they were all snapped up in quick time. We sold 8,000 pints over the course of Saturday which was tremendous and now we are hoping England can go the whole way," Ethridge said.

Norfolk licensee Tony Bennett of the Otter, Thorpe Marriot, said Saturday had been a great day. Bennett entertained about 250 customers, many sat in his beer garden which was equipped with a gazebo and bottle bars to ease service. "We took £4,000 in the afternoon alone," he said.