Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin, has warned drinkers to brace for the possibility that the cost of a simple pint of lager could one day rise to £8 or £10.
Talking to LBC radio, the 68-year-old detailed how there were 'no limits' to ever-growing prices amid the hard-hitting cost of living crisis.
Tim revealed that the price of a pint will 'quite probably' reach £8, and said "There are certainly some pubs that do that, and it’s gone up more than you would imagine. Around the country – I go around the country visiting pubs and talking to our pub managers – whereas it’s not a fiver in our pubs, it’s a fiver in a lot of pubs from Penzance to Wick at the moment.
"So yeah, the price has gone up a hell of a lot. Will it go to eight quid? Quite probably, if things go on as they are."
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Nottinghamshire Live reports Tim, whose chain owns the Quayside, Keel Row and Five Swans pubs in Newcastle, added that some breweries are reportedly watering down beer to save on costs and qualify for a tax break in a 'crazy move'. He added: "Everybody at the moment, one way or another, is struggling with inflation and rising prices, and some of the big breweries are diluting the alcohol content with their beers to avoid these charges, these extra charges.
"It’s financed by tax, because if you bring beer down to 3.4%, which is much lower than almost any beer you’d ever buy in a pub, you get a big tax break on the basis of the incredibly stupid reasoning that people will drink less alcohol if they drink weak beer.
"That’s just not the way people are. So, I think it’s a bad idea. Brewers have jumped on the bandwagon, they can’t resist the 25p tax break, but we are going to try and avoid doing it. Well, we might have, but we want the proper strength beers."
