PUBLICANS have hit back after being criticised for serving short measures saying random spot checks were not fair.

Trading Standards officers from Stockton Borough Council carried out checks at ten pubs in the area and bought two pints in each pub.

They found that in seven of the ten pubs there was not enough beer in the glass to meet official guidelines.

All of the pints purchased were served in a brim measure glass, which means the glass only contains a pint of liquid if filled to the brim.

British Beer and Pub Assocation (BBPA) guidelines state customers should receive no more than a five per cent shortfall in liquid when a brim measure glass is used.

But seven of the 10 pubs served at least one pint below this benchmark.

The shortest measure served was at The Eagle in Eaglescliffe, which had a shortfall of 10.3 per cent on the worst of the two pint measures. Other pubs that fell short were The Sutton arms at Elton, Owington Farm at Billingham, Golden Jubilee at Yarm, Pound Pub in Stockton, The George in Stockton, and The Golden Eagle in Thornaby.

Stockton Council’s Cabinet member for housing and community safety, Councillor Steve Nelson, said further failures; "may lead to prosecution.”

However, publicans criticised the study arguing it failed to take into account customers being routinely offered a top up.

Mike Wardell, director of the Here For Your Hospitality company which owns the Pound Pub, queried the use of tax-payers' money and said: "Customers have different preferences on the head size of a pint and we welcome top up requests once the drink has been poured."

His comments were backed up by Corinne Kingston, of The Eagle at Eaglescliffe and managers at the Sutton Arms and The George have also queried the value of the findings in other media. Other pubs hadn't responded to The Northern Echo as we went to press. The Owington Farm pub in Billingham is under new management which has taken over since the survey was taken out.