YORKSHIRE Warrior ale could soon go on sale at several York pubs – with a new bronze version of the Yorkshire white rose on the pump clips.

Cropton Brewery, which makes the beer, says national pub chain Mitchells & Butlers has agreed to put it on its guest ale programme for some of its outlets across the country.

The move is set to raise many more thousands of pounds for the Yorkshire Regiment’s benevolent fund, which helps soldiers who have been wounded in Afghanistan.

The company’s pubs in York city centre are the Punchbowl in Stonegate, Harkers in St Helen’s Square and the Old White Swan in Goodramgate.

As The Press has reported previously, Cropton Brewery, based near Pickering, is at the centre of a legal dispute over the use of Yorkshire’s white rose on bottle labels and beer pump clips.

Rival brewery Samuel Smith’s of Tadcaster is suing Cropton, claiming that the label, based on the emblem of the Yorkshire Regiment, is “confusingly similar” to the white rose which it has used as its trademark since the 1960s. It claims it has suffered actual or threatened loss or damage as a result of a trademark infringement.

However, the claim is being disputed by Cropton, which argues that the rose is a common symbol and Samuel Smith’s is not entitled to any monopoly over its use. It also claims some other Yorkshire breweries use the rose.

A Cropton spokesman said today it had agreed to create a new version of the rose, coloured in bronze instead of white, which would go on the pump clips at Mitchells & Butlers pubs to ensure it faced no legal complications.

Samuel Smith’s has repeatedly declined to comment on the white rose legal dispute.

A Mitchells & Butlers spokesman said the beer would be one of the options on the seasonal winter guest ale range for its Nicholson’s pubs, which specialised in real ale.

“This means managers of these pubs can choose to stock the beer if they wish to do so from a range of regional and interest beers,” he said. “It will be available between December 1 and February 28.”