DRINKERS faced a bitter blow as the price of pint crept nearer the £1 mark.

Increases at Matthew Brown and Whitbread pubs pushed the price to more than 90p, just a week after Tetley Walker put up the price of their pint. The increases came despite the Chancellor's decision not to put extra duty on beers in the Budget.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.