EU 'reprieve' for binge drinkers as pubs quote Brussels law to keep their happy hours

The move comes only days after Ministers urged the drinks industry to do more to limit 'happy hours' and other irresponsible cut-price offers.

They have been blamed for fuelling the damaging binge-drinking epidemic.

Happy hour again: The British Beer and Pub Association has withdrawn its ban

But now the BBPA, whose members own around 29,000 pubs, has withdrawn the guidance, which was drawn up in 2005, after its lawyers claimed is in breach of European competition law.

The group’s decision came after its own figures showed beer sales in pubs have reached their lowest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In total 107 million fewer pints were sold in April to June this year compared with the same period last year - a fall of 1.2 million pints a day.

The scheme for pubs to work together over such promotions was introduced by the British Beer and Pub Association. which represents more than half the UK's 57,000 pubs. 

But it has now been suspended after documents from Department for Business and Enterprise suggested that pubs could face legal action and heavy fines for breach of competition rules.
 
MPs accused the Government, which introduced 24-hour drinking less than three years ago, of presiding over a shambles.
Tory spokesman Jeremy Hunt said: 'Large parts of the industry want to act responsibly and the Government should be helping them, not getting in their way.

'It is ridiculous that one week the Government slams the industry for not doing enough and then the next week they clamp down on them for trying to act. This highlights the complete confusion across government on how to tackle alcohol-related problems.'

Mark Hastings, spokesman for the BBPA, said: 'This is not a problem of the industry's making. This is a case of the industry trying to do the right thing and being prevented from doing so by the law. This is a problem of the Government's making and only they can solve it.
 
'By introducing this code in the first place, we demonstrated our clear intent to eradicate irresponsible promotions, and remain committed to that.'

The BBPA introduced the voluntary code in 2005 and some local councils have made following it a condition of their licences.

But papers circulated by the Department for Business and Enterprise warn that businesses working together to prevent price-cutting could breach European competition law.

This was backed last week by a Department of Health warning that: 'Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 expressly prohibits agreements between undertakings that have as their object or effect the restriction of competition in markets.
 
'A voluntary guidance document or code through which a number of businesses agreed between themselves to limit the ways in which they compete against one another for customers would be such an anticompetitive agreement.'
 
The BBPA said this left both the organisation and pub groups open to possible legal action. As a result, they had been forced to 'reluctantly' suspend the whole scheme. But campaigners and the police put the blame on the drinks industry.
 
They called for the Government to bypass competition rules by bringing in a law to ban irresponsible promotions.

Chris Allison, the Association of Chief Police Officers' lead officer on alcohol, said: 'Sadly, the trade repeatedly shows that it cannot be relied upon to act in a responsible way.
 
'It is time for the Government to take action and legislate to ensure that the licensing trade always acts responsibly.'
 
Frank Soodeen, of Alcohol Concern. said: 'Recent developments make it quite clear that the trade's commitment to responsible drinking can often be described as superficial at best.
 
'Successive reports have shown quite clearly that around the country a culture of complacency has set in, as voluntary codes have been shown to have no teeth. As we move towards the autumn, we hope that government will stand up its promise to introduce more robust regulation.'
 
A spokesman for the Department for Business and Enterprise denied that its guidance had directly led the BBPA to withdraw the code.
 
He said: 'We welcomed the code when it was first published and there is unlikely to be any reason why it would breach competition law. However, ultimately it is a matter for the BBPA what advice it gives its members.'