THIRSTY drinkers will shudder at the prospect - the average price of a pint of British bitter has broken the £2 barrier for the first time.

But hard-up punters in York and North Yorkshire have no need to drown their sorrows yet. According to the latest Good Pub Guide, they are still better off than most.

York inns are serving up the fourth cheapest real ales in the UK at an average of £1.92 - considerably less than the typical £2.07 and London's lavish £2.33.

The flood-prone King's Arms beside the Ouse, in York, which is tied to Sam Smith's, offers beer at bargain basement prices, with bitter rock bottom at £1.36 and lager at a mere £1.62.

Barman Andrew Cole, 19, said: "We're very popular with Americans - they often give us £2 and are so shocked when we come back with change that they tell us to keep it!"

Across the city, a pint of Boddingtons at trendy Casa is £2.15, the cheapest lager £2.35.

Manager Gaynor Smith, 29, said: "I don't think our prices are too expensive compared with our competition."

Matt Haygarth, boss at Pitcher & Piano, Coney Street, York, said: "On a Saturday people don't mind paying £3 for beer - some clubs charge more. People realise we're in a great location."

High prices are pushing people to traditional taverns, according to Christine Cliffe, landlady at the Jolly Sailor, at Cawood, near Selby. She said: "We don't try and compete, we just offer value for money."

The Jolly Sailor is typical of "old fashioned" pubs, which the Evening Press discovered regularly pull pints under £2.

Bar worker Karen Barrow, 43, of the Wheatsheaf Inn, at Burn, near Selby, said her customers were content. She said: "You're paying for the same drink at the end of the day at most places."

Jack Merry, landlord at four York pubs, including the Tap & Spile, Monkgate, reckons prices are secondary concerns.

"The majority of people aren't bothered, if they enjoy the pub and people they're with, then they're happy."

In the brewery town of Tadcaster, drinkers can sink a pint of bitter at the remarkable price of £1.18.

The town - home of Sam Smith's brewery - boasts six tied pubs out of a total of ten, including the Britannia Inn, managed by Brian Hopper. He admitted residents had plenty of choice over where to enjoy discount tipples, but refused to comment further - on advice from his bosses.

Dave Adamson, 53, runs the Coach and Horses, one of four pubs not tied to Sam Smith's. Here bitter costs an extra 40p-plus.

He said: "We rely on the fact our regulars prefer John Smith's (also of Tadcaster) to Sam Smith's."

... but local produce pushes up pub food prices

USING local produce has helped to push up pub food prices, according to North Yorkshire landlords.

Research by the Good Pub Guide 2004 found that the retail price index, excluding housing, rose 2.67 per cent from May 2001 to May this year, but pub food prices had risen 13 per cent over the same period. It also found that new "gastropubs" charged "astronomical" prices for their grub.

But some of North Yorkshire's traditional dining pubs said their menu prices were determined by the high quality local produce their dishes were made from.

"I'd say that you get what you pay for at our pub and restaurant," said Andrew Pern, head chef and owner of The Star Inn, Harome, which won the Pub of The Year 2004 Award.

"The standard of our food and the standard of the chefs that cook it all costs money. I know of prices in towns and cities which are the same price or more than ours, but the food doesn't reach the same standards."

Gary Benson, licensee of The Malt Shovel, Hovingham, said: "Our vegetables are all grown just outside Hovingham, the meat comes from butchers in Easingwold and Helmsley, and we make all our dishes from scratch, so we could probably charge a bit more than we do."

Updated: 11:16 Thursday, October 16, 2003