WSTA hits out at call for 80p minimum price

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has hit out at a call today by a senior police officer for an 80p minimum price on alcohol - saying it would punish nearly all wine drinkers.

Mike Craik, the Association of Chief Police Officers' national spokesman for alcohol, suggested the level was needed to tackle the problems around alcohol.

But the WSTA said this would equate to £8 for a bottle of wine and that only three per cent of people spend this much or more on wine.

Jeremy Beadles, the WSTA's chief executive, said: "A minimum price of 80p per unit would punish 97 per cent of British wine drinkers at a stroke.

"What is the aim here - tackling alcohol misuse or putting wine beyond the reach of ordinary people?"

The average price of a bottle of wine is currently £4.25, according to the WSTA.

Meanwhile, doctors at today's British Medical Association annual conference in Liverpool backed calls for a minimum price. A call for clearer labelling of alcohol and total ban on alcohol advertising was also supported at the event.