THE cost of a pint in many York pubs looks set to soar by more than 10p a pint.

The move follows a hike in wholesale beer prices by Scottish & Newcastle, one of Britain’s biggest brewers.

The company has increased the wholesale price on all its beer brands which include John Smith’s Bitter, Theakston’s and Newcastle Brown Ale.

Trevor King, secretary of the York branch of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association, said the price increase of five per cent could mean a 10p rise in the cost of a pint at the bar.

Mr King said: “They keep the rises coming year on year and it’s another nail in the coffin for the pub trade, because we are expected to absorb any price rises.”

In a letter to landlords from Scottish & Newcastle UK’s on-trade managing director, Lawson Mountstevens, passed on to The Press, the price rises are blamed on the high cost of fuel oil and the rising cost of raw materials. The increase will put an extra £22 on a barrel across all their beer range.

Mr Mountstevens says: “Unlike other suppliers, we resisted the opportunity to increase prices for a second time during the autumn of 2008 and it is now a full year since our last increase. During this time, we have taken every opportunity to minimise the impact on our customers by working hard to control our cost base.”

Coors, which produces Carling, has also said it is putting up prices by five per cent or 7p a pint.

Andy Brayshaw, the bar manager at the Tramways Club, off Walmgate, said they would have to put the price of John Smith’s up by 10p from £1.90 to £2 a pint and for Carling from £2 to £2.10 a pint from Monday. Mr Brayshaw said: “At one time beer, used to go up by 1p or 2p a pint, but now we are talking as much as 15p a pint.

“We are finding that this means more and more people are coming out later in the evening and not drinking as much when they are out, but drinking at home instead, because the price of beer at supermarkets is giveaway in comparison. It means we are losing about £50 to £60 a week, which is thousands of pounds for us a year.”

Meanwhile, Carlsberg UK has announced it is to hike trade prices of its beers by an average of 2.8 per cent which will also take effect from Monday. Chris Houlton, Carlsberg UK’s sales and distribution director, said: “Carlsberg UK fully understand the demands that the on-trade is under and has endeavoured to minimise the price rise as far as possible, which has been made necessary by the increases in material and production costs that the business has incurred. Over the last 12 months, we have worked very hard as a business to deliver price increases that are significantly lower than our competitors.”

So far this year Stella Artois brewer InBev has announced a 7p per pint rise and Diageo, which owns the Guinness brand, a 5.4 per cent increase. A spokesman for Coors urged the Government to take action to cut taxes on beer.

He said: “We need the Government to give us a break and we are calling on the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, to cut the duty on beer in his next budget.”

Selby MP John Grogan, who is chairman of the all-party parliamentary beer committee, said: “This price rise rather undermines the argument that the price of beer in pubs and clubs is rising steeply because of tax.

“I am organising a meeting next Wednesday in the House of Commons with five junior ministers in attendance and representatives of the brewing and pub sectors. I’m sure someone will raise this issue then.”