Anger over ban on beer in litres

A restaurant owner has described laws which ban him from serving beer by the litre as "barmy" after he was threatened with court action.

Nic Davison was served an infringement notice by trading standards officers for selling beer illegally.

Mr Davison, who owns the Kuchnia Polska restaurant in Doncaster, was told to change his glasses within 28 days or face a court hearing and a £2,000 fine.

The 1988 Weights and Measures Act says draught beer must be sold in pints.

Mr Davison, 26, who owns the restaurant with his Polish partner Dr Krystyna Ciurai, said he was writing a letter to trading standards to tell them he will not be changing his glasses and that he intends to fight them all the way.

'Ensure consistency'

"They're barmy laws, the laws are just silly, they've got to sort it out," he said.
"We had the idea for the bar as my other half is Polish and I've visited Poland many times and speak the language.

"We've a great crowd who come in here - people from the town and people from Poland.

"They find this all rather amusing - they never realised it was illegal to drink beer in litres rather than pints."

Mr Davison opened the restaurant, on Sunny Bar, on Polish Independence Day in May and serves beer from a Polish brewer.

He has enlisted the help of the Metric Martyrs Movement, which believes traders should be allowed to sell goods in whatever measurements they want to - though unlike Mr Davison's fight, most previous battles have been over being forced to sell products in metric measurements.

Jane Miller, director for neighbourhoods at Doncaster Council, said: "In the UK, free-flow beer must be sold in stamped pint or half pint glasses. This ensures consistency all over the country.

"We want to help the restaurant owner get this right and are providing help and advice so they sell their beer in accordance to the law."

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | England | South Yorkshire | Anger over ban on beer in litres

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Kudos to Doncaster Trading Standards. Got to love Weights and Measures legislation. :-)
[Rep]

An intersting case, it will be interesting to see how this pans out.

I grudgingly admire his right to sell his ale in what ever mesurements he wants, but more importantly, are we on the cusp of further cultural erosion?
[Rep]

I remember a few years ago when the owner of a Bavarian (or was it Austrian) pub got a rollocking for selling beer by the litre.
[Rep]

I can understand why Mr Davidson might be surprised at all this fuss. When he turns on his TV he'll hear TV presenters talking only in metric measurements, he'll also have read about how much trouble the "metric martyrs" have had trying to sell goods in imperial measurements.
[Rep]

I'll won't comment on this story (I'm biased since Trading Standards is my industry).

However, what I will say is that I generally agree that consumers and traders should have the right to trade in units they both feel comfortable with - provided the equipment used is properly stamped/labelled etc.
[Rep]

Originally Posted by Dissident Congress:
I remember a few years ago when the owner of a Bavarian (or was it Austrian) pub got a rollocking for selling beer by the litre.

Andrea Schutz . . .

BWMA/Legal/Cardinal's Hat
[Rep]