Moves towards a national ID card scheme may be delayed to allow the government to carry out more research into public opinion.
The hold-up means that licensees will have to continue to make judgements about customers' ages, or rely on staff to be able to spot a fake ID from among the range of the local and national proof-of-age schemes currently operating.
The Home Office believes the official response to its consultation exercise has been skewed by campaigners opposed to entitlement cards, creating confusion over the true level of public support for the proposal.
Home Secretary David Blunkett, the biggest supporter of ID cards in the Cabinet, said in a recent TV interview that 80 per cent the public supported an ID card scheme.
The Home Office later told The Publican that the figure came from surveys carried out in December 2002 and February this year, as part of the consultation.
However, in response to a Parliamentary question a few days later, Home Office minister Beverley Hughes said that more than 5,000 of the 7,000 official responses to the consultation on the issue were against the scheme.
With almost all the anti-card responses coming via the website of Stand, a group opposed to ID cards, the Home Office believes it has been targeted by an organised campaign to sabotage the proposal.
It is said to be considering commissioning another public opinion poll to confirm the true level of public opinion.
A Home Office spokeswoman said the results of the consultation are still scheduled for publication "later this summer, once the findings have been compiled".