Beer sales down by 130 million pints in last quarter of 2008

Pubs and bars served 130 million less pints in the final quarter of last year - a drop of nearly 10 per cent - compared to the same period in 2007.

The UK Quarterly Beer Barometer also showed a 6.5 per cent drop in off-trade sales in the last three months of 2008.

Overall beer sales, across the on and off-trade, are down 8.3 per cent - the highest fourth quarter fall since records began in 1997.

And on-trade beer sales for the whole of 2008 fell 9.3 per cent, according to the figures, published by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

However, overall, off-trade sales for the year only dropped 0.2 per cent.

Rob Hayward, the BBPA's chief executive, said the figures highlighted the "extreme economic pressures hitting Britain's beer and pub sector" and claimed the government's beer tax revenues are now down £181m since last March's Budget.

The alcohol tax escalator was only "making a difficult situation worse", he added, and by 2012 the tax on a pint of beer will have shot up by 40 per cent.

"We are not asking for a tax handout, like other sectors," he said. "We just don't want our tax burden to be made worse. When it comes to stimulating the UK economy, the government should not and must not turn a blind eye to Britain's beer and pub sector.

"The industry's Axe the Beer Tax ​- Save the Pub campaign has seen a surge of public support for our beleaguered sector.

"It's time for the government to respond to these calls and support a great British industry."