Budget pub to offer pints for £1.50

A budget pub offering pints of beer for £1.50 and half pints for just £1 is due to open in northeast England next month.

As reported by The Metro, PoundPub in Stockton-on-Tees will be open from 8am and could be rolled out across the UK if the fledgling venture proves a success.

With the average price of a pint currently standing at £3 in the northeast, PoundPub will be offering half price pints to its patrons.

The Metro reports that a number of politicians have cast doubt on the plan, expressing concern that it will give the wrong image of Stockton-on-Tees, which is currently undergoing a £38m makeover.

“I have concerns about the ability of such a venue to control the environment. They are effectively selling at a point where the quality of clientele will likely match the price of the product on offer,” councilor Phil Dennis told the paper.

Scheduled to open over Easter, PoundPub’s director Mike Wardell went ahead with the idea after a successful four-month trial at a pub in Greater Manchester.

Wardell, who is seeking to attract people who visit working men’s clubs, insisted the pub would refuse to serve drunks.

“The phrase we’re going for is ‘get more round for your pound’. At a time when 12 pubs a week are closing around the country, we have to think outside the box a bit,” he told The Metro.

However, campaigners worry that the opening of PoundPub in the northeast, where alcohol-related deaths are above the national average, will lead to an increase in binge drinking.