These beer mats stop Londoners getting ripped off on pint measures in pubs

Trading Standards Officers have launched a campaign in London’s financial district to crack down on pubs serving short measures.

Beer mats are being rolled out in pubs across London showing exactly what a pint of beer should look like, and encouraging customers to ask for their drinks to be topped up if they fall short.

In the UK, draught beer must be sold by reference to quantity and normally in quantities of half a pint or multiples of a half pint.

While many pubs have begun to adopt glasses with line measures — displaying a mark which indicates where the glass needs to be filled to contain a pint — traditionally, pints are served in glasses that must be filled to the brim to contain the right measure.

City of London Corporation Trading Standards officers are enforcing recommendations suggested by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), which says that a pint glass should contain a minimum of 95% liquid and 5% head.

The authorities said that, strictly speaking, a “pint” should mean a pint of liquid, and drinkers are well within their rights to request a top up should they choose.

The reverse shows different measurements for serving beer, which punters can rest against their own drink to determine whether they’re getting value for money.

Consumers are being encouraged to contact City of London Trading Standards* if they are sold a short pint, so that officers can follow up the complaint with the pub in question.

Trading Standards Officers will be conducting test purchases across the City in the coming months and investigating premises that continue to sell short measures.

Steve Playle, trading standards manager at the City of London Corporation, said: “Consumers are well within their rights to make sure they get exactly what they’ve paid for.“It’s worth remembering that for a pint costing five pounds, a shortage of five percent is a 25p cost to the consumer. Drinkers are entirely within their rights to ask for a full pint of liquid if they wish.

“We are reminding people that it is perfectly okay to ask for a top-up whilst stressing that they should continue to drink responsibly.”

The City of London Corporation said it has already written to pubs within the Square Mile — London’s oldest financial district — to remind them “how important it is to try and provide a full pint. If we get evidence that particular pubs are not meeting their legal obligations, the information that you provide can help us to identify those pubs that we need to visit.”