UK shop owners demand to go back to selling in ounces and pounds after Brexit

EU law only permits the sale of goods in kilograms and grams

At the moment, imperial measurements cannot be displayed larger than metric ones (PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Shop owners are demanding the right to sell produce in pounds and ounces after Brexit.

Current EU laws state the sale of goods must be in kilograms and grams and imperial units can only be used as a “supplementary indication”.

Following Britain’s decision to leave the EU, many shop owners are hoping to revert back to using their old measurement methods.

Warwick Cairns, from the British Weights and Measures Association, has called for there to be a restoration of freedom of choice.

'In 2000, to comply with European legislation, the Government made it a criminal act for a greengrocer to sell a pound of bananas,” Mr Cairns told the Daily Telegraph.

'We thought this was outrageous then, we think it outrageous now. And with our exit from the EU, the legal basis of compulsory metrication will be repealed. It's now time to restore freedom of choice.'

Peter Bone, a Tory MP, described the idea as being ‘first-class’ and said he hopes the Government embraces it.

“Given that our biggest trading partner by a mile – the United States – is still on imperial measurements, it has always been silly that we have had to just do it in metric,” he told the Daily Mail.

'It makes sense and is one of the advantages of coming out of the EU,” he added.