The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has said that increasing consumer 'uncertainty' led to a 9.7 per cent drop in total beer sales for the third quarter.

According to the latest UK Quarterly Beer Barometer, an expected post-World Cup slowdown and a wet summer had also contributed towards the figures. Pub beer sales dropped by nearly 8 per cent for the period, but were more resilient than supermarkets and the off-trade, which reported a decline of 12 per cent.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: "These figures reflect some particular and more prolonged pressures facing the sector. As has occurred after every World Cup the beer market hit a bump in the road, which was not helped by a wet summer. "But these exceptional factors are underlaid by lingering economic and consumer uncertainty. Concern about the impact of public spending cuts on jobs and incomes and the forthcoming VAT and beer tax rises are feeding that unease."