BITTER pub bosses today accused the UK's leading brewer of spoiling the local pub trade by jacking up prices for the second time this year.

Some angry landlords, who have had to put up their prices by 12p a pint for John Smith's Extra Smooth bitter, claim the increase is to pay for a new TV advertising campaign starring comedian Peter Kay, the star of the hit Channel Four series Phoenix Nights.

One landlord in Tadcaster, where the brewery is based, has already ditched the ale because his customers will not stump up the extra cash.

The "No Nonsense" TV ads show comic Kay watching his soccer team-mates' silky skills - before hoofing their football out of sight to a triumphant cry of "Ave it".

Another shows Kay beating skilled high divers to a gold medal with a crude "running bomb" into an Olympic-style swimming pool.

But landlords say the campaign has come at a price.

Simon Oates, landlord of the Jackdaw, in Stutton Road, Tadcaster, said he had now taken John Smith's Extra Smooth out and replaced it with Boddington's.

John Smith's parent company, Scottish Courage, said it had upped the wholesale price of Extra Smooth ale by 5p a pint.

A spokesman said the price hike was the result of a review of costs, investment and advertising.

But claims that consumers were being asked to fund the new TV ad campaign were simply not true, he said.

Updated: 11:40 Wednesday, October 30, 2002