ALL pubs should be allowed to sell beer and cider from independent local brewers to help the post-lockdown recovery.

As pubs across the region prepare to reopen at the weekend, the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), has launched its new Cheers for Choice campaign.

Its 190,000 members are signing petitions to pub company bosses urging them to allow all landlords to stock local brews.

More than 7,000 have so far raised a glass to the campaign.

Beer ties restrict what most tenants can sell in their pubs and they are often banned from making popular local products available to their customers.

Camra is calling for a relaxation in beer tie arrangements as pubs reopen, so all aspects of the industry can pull together.

A recent Camra survey of 21,000 beer drinkers and pub-goers found that 68-per cent are less likely to go to a pub if it is does not sell local and independent beer and cider.

National director, Ben Wilkinson, said: “Relaxing restrictions for tied pub tenants is the right thing for pub companies to do, making sure all parts of the industry, no matter how small, are supported in the recovery from Covid-19 and are able to thrive in the weeks and months ahead.

“Allowing small and independent brewers to sell into all pubs will also improve consumer choice and allow pub-goers to support local brewing businesses hit by recent events.

“It also makes business sense, with 68pc of pub-goers saying they would be less likely to go back to a pub if it doesn’t have a range of brews from small and independent producers.”