Making sure you get a full measure

Local people buying a drink in a Milton Keynes pub or bar this Christmas could be missing out on a share of around £40,000 of beer and wine, warns Milton Keynes City Council’s Trading Standards.

Following a national Trading Standards investigation which revealed short measured drinks in UK pubs and bars cost the average consumer around £115 per year, Milton Keynes Trading Standards ran a local exercise – the first of its kind - to check if city pub servings are measuring up.

Trading Standards investigators found that 70% of the drinks checked (ten 175ml glasses of wine and ten pints of beer) were short measured, some by more than 10%. On average, wine was short by 6% and beer by 5%. 

This means if consumers each bought two short measured drinks in a Milton Keynes pub or bar over the Christmas period, the cost of the ‘lost servings’ could add up to £39,690.

The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988 sets out the legal obligations for selling alcohol. 

Although each business visited was advised of the investigation findings and given guidance, Tranding Standards officers want city consumers to be aware of their rights when they’re out for a festive drink. 

Many glasses in pubs, bars and restaurants show a measuring line which consumers can judge the serving by. If beer or wine looks more than 5% short, it’s fine to ask for a top up.

A head of beer is legally part of the measure and may reasonably form up to 5% of a serving. However, if the head is too large – more than 5%, as it was in half of the short measured pints checked by Milton Keynes Trading Standards - you are well within your rights to ask bar staff for an immediate top up.

If you continue to be short measured, get in touch with Milton Keynes Trading Standards.

[1] Statistica 2023 research: 50% of adults will visit a pub or bar at least once per fortnight, equating to 73,500 adults in Milton Keynes. Two drinks per person will be short measured by an average value of 54p based on a pint of beer costing £4.79 and a 175ml glass of wine at £4.83.