Map reveals cheapest place in UK for a pint as punters lose £114 a year over short pours – is your area on the list?
THE country’s cheapest places to buy a pint can be revealed, helping punters cheated by short-pouring bounce back.
Boozer and bar goers are being stung up to £114 a year due to short-measuring of their wine and beer – but this map shows the best places to get back bang for buck.
Using data from Numbeo, Coventry claims the crown as the cheapest place for a pint on average.
It’s the only place in the UK offering a jar for less than £4, coming in at £3.89.
Next comes Newcastle at £4.11, with coastal Swansea rounding out the podium at £4.36.
In Scotland, Aberdeen averages £4.39 per pint, while Reading, home to the famous festival, is not far behind at £4.44.
Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Dundee, Preston, Cardiff and Bournemouth all offer £4.45.
On the other side of the ledger, London unsurprisingly holds the unwanted mantle of most dear – at £6.74.
Beachside Brighton (£6.66) is on the capital’s heels, with Oxford (£5.80) and Belfast (£5.78) next.
Edinburgh and Manchester are both slightly less expensive at £5.57.
It comes after testers found beer drinkers were only getting 96 per cent of their pint each time it was poured.
This is due to bar staff not filling glasses to the brim, despite the head being legally included in the measurement.
Meanwhile, wine lovers were found to be missing out on five per cent each glass.
These little losses add up overtime, building to a loss of between £88 and £114 for the average drinker.
As many as seven out of 10 drinks are poured short in the UK, according to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.
The researchers tested 137 drinks, finding 96 of them to be short-poured.
The CTSI said: “There is more to work to be done in ensuring that customers get what they pay for.
“We are calling on the hospitality sector to ensure customers are getting value for their money by correctly measuring the drinks they are serving in the nation’s bar and pubs.”
Labour MP Jess Phillips, also vice-president of the CTSI, said: “The cost of living means people can hardly afford a drink and to discover you’re being served short measures adds insult to injury.
“You should get what you pay for.”
Nik Antona, chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, added: “Consumers shouldn’t have to feel short-changed when they support their favourite pubs, clubs and taprooms.
“The idea that 80 per cent of all beer bought at the bar is being short measured in the UK is extremely concerning. You are well within your rights to ask the bar staff for an immediate top-up.”
UK's cheapest places for a pint
1. Coventry. Price of an average imperial pint (568ml) – £3.89
2. Newcastle upon Tyne – £4.11
3. Swansea – £4.36
4. Aberdeen – £4.39
5. Reading – £4.44
6= Sheffield – £4.45
6= Nottingham – £4.45
6= Leicester – £4.45
6= Dundee – £4.45
6= Preston – £4.45
6= Cardiff – £4.45
6= Bournemouth – £4.45
7. Birmingham – £4.46
