Staff from two St Austell Brewery pubs are hoping that their efforts to highlight just how much tax you pay on your pint at your local will be rewarded when next week's (Wednesday April 22) budget report is annouced.

Customers at the New Inn, Tywardreath near St Austell and the Fountain Inn in Penznance enjoyed a pint of award-winning, Tribute Ale for just £1.85 yesterday (Thursday April 16), when both pubs sold its pints without the added cost of tax for one day.

The St Austell Brewery pubs lowered the prices on all St Austell ales to help rally support against any further increases on tax and help support the national campaign Axe the Beer Tax. It was also intended to highlight just how much tax is added to a pint.

Alcohol tax currently accounts for an average of 33 per cent of the price of a pint, which is one of the highest tax rates in the world. Despite a recent poll which found that 70 per cent of people were opposed plans to increase beer tax in the Budget, today the Chancellor will annouce whether the tax on alcohol will rise up to 40 per cent.

Jeremy Mitchell, head of marketing at St Austell Brewery, said: "We wanted to highlight just how much money the consumer pays in tax and thought that lowering the prices on all St Austell Ales for a day in two of our pubs would show just this.

"As a Cornish family owned company we wanted to do our bit to support the Axe the Beer Tax campaign and to lobby against the further increases planned on alcohol tax. The local pub is very often a cornerstone for its community and we don't want to see the pockets of the responsible adults who enjoy a drink hit further."

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