The routine pub practice of asking customers if they want a double measure when they order spirits has been outlawed by a Scottish licensing board.
Pubco JD Wetherspoon is taking legal advice after being refused an extension in Ayr after the South Ayrshire Licensing Board ruled Wetherspoon was in breach of a code of conduct drawn up by the board to limit cheap drinks promotions.
"Upselling" by Wetherspoon staff, inviting customers to order a double, was said to breach the code, as did a national two-for-one promotion.
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon confirmed that upselling doubles is standard practice in all its pubs.
He said: "It simply offers the customer value for money, in the same way a larger glass of wine does."
The latest Publican Newspaper Spirits Report survey shows that almost two-thirds of pubs upsell doubles at least occasionally, and more than one in five does so all the time
Mark Hastings of the British Beer and Pub Association said the trade's own code of practice on promotions had not even considered including upselling. "It's widespread and simply good business practice," he said.