Ban on sale of below-cost alcohol to be introduced in April 2012

A ban on the sale of alcohol at prices below the cost of the tax paid on it will be introduced in England and Wales from 6 April 2012.

The move, announced by the Government today, works out as 38p for a can of weak lager and £10.71 for a litre of vodka.

Home Office Minister James Brokenshire said it was "an important first step" and claimed it would prevent around 7,000 crimes a year - 2,000 of them violent.

But health campaigners including the British Medical Association claimed the changes would make little difference and that the floor was still far too low.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government is pressing ahead with plans for a minimum price per unit of alcohol, having failed to introduce a price of 45p per unit earlier this year.

Anne Milton, Public Health Minister at Westminster, told a Commons committee last month that a minimum price per unit was "probably illegal" under European trade laws and would be challenged in the courts, according to the BBC.

ALMR calls on Government to tackle cheap alcohol after hospital admissions soar >>

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By Neil Gerrard

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