The brewing and pub industry said that the decision by the Chancellor to press ahead with plans for an above-inflation rise in beer duty had "signed the death warrant" of thousands of British pubs.

Despite unprecedented lobbying from the industry in recent months, Alistair Darling stuck to the pledge he made last year to raise tax on alcohol by 2 per cent above inflation in each of the next four years.

The so-called duty escalator, which comes on top of last year's 18 per cent duty increase, is expected to add about 1p to a pint of beer, 4p to a bottle of wine and 13p to a bottle of spirits. The changes come into effect at midnight.

In its first joint submission before the Budget, the drinks industry's main trade associations had warned the Treasury that the above-inflation rise would put a further 75,000 jobs at risk on top of the tens of thousands of jobs already lost.

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A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said: “Today’s Budget signs the death warrant for thousands of Britain’s pubs and for tens of thousands of British jobs.

“Pubs play a vital role in the economy and in local communities. Yet six are closing every day and more than 2,000 have gone in the last 12 months alone. The Chancellor’s unfair and unjustified announcement today condemns thousands more to shut for good."

The spokesman added: “In imposing these additional beer taxes, the Government has wilfully ignored the views of the public, landlords, consumer groups, industry representatives and MPs from all parties who have been calling for action to save the British pub.

“At a time when the rest of the economy is getting a supporting hand, the beer and pub industry is being singled out for punitive action. Last year the Chancellor raised beer tax by an eye-watering 18 per cent. Today's rise is a further body blow.

“The result will be more pubs closing, more jobs being lost and more people consuming alcohol outside supervised, licensed premises.”

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) also condemned the announcement, which it said would "bring further misery to hard-pressed consumers and threaten more job losses in a sector already facing record numbers of business failures, pub closures and worsening trading conditions".

The WSTA said that the impact of the move would be more severe than expected because the Treasury had based its calculations on a notional zero inflation rate rather than the current forecast for inflation of -2.25 per cent

Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the WSTA, said: “At a time when the Government is offering other industries a helping hand, it is extraordinary that it wishes to hurt the drinks industry with further tax increases.

“Thousands of jobs have already been lost in the industry and the decision to go ahead with a further tax increase puts thousands more at risk. It’s a bitter irony that with falling sales, these tax hikes are unlikely to deliver the revenues forecast by the Treasury.”

Gavin Hewitt, the chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, described the announcement as " a real blow".

He said: “At a time when the Chancellor is looking for additional revenue, we believe that an increase in excise duty will be counterproductive.

"As this represents a 5 per cent increase in real terms, the Treasury is likely to see lower receipts as the duty rise aggravates already tough market conditions in the UK, the industry’s third-largest market, and weak consumer confidence."

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