Trade chief slams penny pint promotion

A penny-a-pint promotion has been slammed as irresponsible by a trade leader.

Last week The Publican​ revealed that Teesside pub chain, the Dukedom Group, is offering a pint of Tetley's for 1p in six of its pubs to customers who buy a spirit.

But Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, has hit out at the promotion.

"This is encouraging people to mix their drinks, which causes a lot of problems," he said. "If they want to help the customers why don't they reduce the price of both drinks to what they think are a fair price.

"We stand for responsible retailing. We are fighting very strongly against supermarkets offering discounted drinks. These promotions undermine how we stand as an industry."

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said they would keeping an eye on the pub.

"The police cannot dictate the prices the pubs sell their alcohol, but we will be monitoring them very closely for incidents of anti-social behaviour and violence as a result of any binge-drinking on their premises," he said.

Dukedom Group operations manager Russell Vickers said the promotion was designed to help people through the credit crunch.