Brewers petition Blair over EU's move to decrown pints

Leading figures in the brewing and pub industry are calling on the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to reverse a "needless" decision to abolish the Crown symbol on pint glasses and replace it with a European Union mark.

Following an EU ruling which came into force last October, the Conformité Européenne (CE) mark is replacing the Crown mark on all pint glasses to ensure conformity and accuracy across the region.

However, nine pub and brewing chiefs have put their names to an open letter to the Prime Minister calling it "a needless intrusion into a system which has worked well for many years and continues to do so".

The letter, also forwarded to the Conservative leader, David Cameron, and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Menzies Campbell, has been signed by, among others, Giles Thorley, the chief executive of the UK's largest pub operator Punch Taverns, Tim Martin, the chairman of JD Wetherspoon, and Anthony Fuller, the chairman of Fuller, Smith & Turner.

They write that they "were disappointed by the Government's decision to back the Measuring Instruments Directive". The Crown stamp has been used since 1699 to guarantee the size of pints and half pints. The directive is described as "yet another in a long line of examples of excessive interference from Brussels which only serve to undermine support for the EU among business leaders and the wider public".

Michael Turner, Fuller's chief executive, said the idea was "an absolute nonsense" and "of immense cost to the industry".

"It is adding no value whatsoever," he said. "It is another example of increasing interference in British traditions."

The firms behind the letter, which include Shepherd Neame, Brokenfoot Inns, Massive, the Unicorn Brewery, Butcombe Brewery and Tynemill, represent more than 11,000 pubs.

A DTI spokesman said the ruling applies only to glasses that went on sale since October. "No one has to get rid of the Crown-stamped glasses they are already using. Glasses already in use are unaffected and can stay in use as long as they last."