Good Pub Guide 2020: Hampshire pints among most expensive in the country - but Londoners pay more

In Hampshire, the average price for a pint is £3.89 –while Shropshire has the cheapest pints costing £3.46 on average. 

Beer-lovers in both counties can raise a glass in celebration to the fact they do not live in London, where the average price for a pint is £4.57.

Last year, only Londoners faced paying more than £4 for a pint, but now beer-fans in Scotland, Surrey, and Sussex are in the same position. 

This year’s guide reveals beer prices have risen by 10p a pint on average across the UK.  

Good Pub Guide editor Fiona Stapley said the 10p a pint price hike would not put off pub-goers.

She said: ‘People love pubs and they love their beer and on every pub visit, customers come away feeling happier - and that is to do with cheerful, chatty atmosphere and the people they meet in those pubs rather than the effect of the alcohol.’

The editor also said the smoking ban, put in place in 2007, caused ‘howls of public protest’ - the ban benefited pubs as more women and families are heading to their local pub for a drink and a meal.

The guide named The Inn at Whitewell, in Clitheroe, Lancashire as its Pub of the Year, praising the riverside boozer for its ‘olde worlde’ charm, free to play piano, and ‘spectacular’ views.

The 38th edition of guide features more than 5,000 pubs.