Happy Hour 'with limits'
2005-05-24 13:41
London - Beer-swilling Britons face a sobering prospect: an un-happy hour.
A group representing about half the country's pubs and bars said on Monday it is ditching Happy Hour offers and other deals that encourage irresponsible drinking, a British past-time that has come under increasing attack from the government.
It's not quite "The Death of Happy Hour", as the Daily Mirror newspaper headline put it on Monday.
Publicans can continue to host and advertise Happy Hours, as long as they don't spur people to drink too much, too quickly.
Offers that invite customers to drink for free after paying a cover charge, for example, are to be nixed. Half-price drinks will still be allowed, but only if it's done responsibly with say, offers of food too.
'Irresponsible promotions'
"We're not banning promotions, we're just banning irresponsible promotions," said Christine Milburn, with the British Beer and Pub Association, which issued the new guidelines on behalf of some 70 companies that own about half of Britain's 60 000 pubs.
The move follows recent government attempts to curb excessive drinking, which it blames for much of the crime and violence in Britain's city centres.
Binge drinking, especially on weekends, is one aspect of social disorder which Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he intends to tackle during his third term in office.
Officials have also urged the alcohol industry to play a bigger part in tackling the problem.
But the new Happy Hour rules left some drinkers, well - unhappy.
"They're taking away our freedom," said Sid Smith, 34, from London.
Some pub owners applauded the move, saying happy hours tend to draw the rif-raf.
"You get a certain type of clientele looking for a cheap drink," Judd Joyce, 39, manager of The City Retreat. "We're better than that."
Many blame Britain's culture of binge drinking on the rigid 23:00 closing time, which prompts many to guzzle alcohol in bursts of a few hours.
Under new laws that come into effect in November, pubs and bars will be allowed to open any hours they like. The government hopes that will encourage a more responsible and relaxed attitude to drinking, and remove the 23:00 flashpoint, when drunks surge into the street.
- AP