Drinking on Scots islands is one of the most expensive in UK

Pints in the Scottish islands are among the highest in the UK. Picture: PA

The 2018 edition of The Good Pub Guide’s annual survey of national drink prices shows a £1.09-a-pint difference between the cheapest and most expensive in the country.

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The Scottish Islands is listed as ‘expensive’ with an average of £3.80 a pint. Mainland Scotland is £3.67.

Each year the editors of the Guide carry out a national survey of beer prices.

This year there has been a considerable increase in the cost of the average pint of beer in Britain – it’s now £3.60, a substantial 13p increase from last year’s £3.47.

This was only 1p up on the average in the guide published in 2015.

There’s a massive £1.09-a-pint difference between Herefordshire and Yorkshire the joint cheapest counties at £3.31, and the most expensive at £4.40 in Surrey. This marks the very first time in the history of the guide that London isn’t the most expensive county!

Another finding of this year’s survey is that Britain’s ever-growing range of pubs brewing their own beer typically costs £3.09 a pint which is 51p less than the national average.

Bargain beer: Herefordshire (£3.31), Yorkshire (£3.31), Shropshire (£3.33), Derbyshire (£3.36), Cumbria (£3.38), Worcestershire (£3.38)

Fair-priced beer: Northumbria (£3.40), Wales £3.42), Leicestershire (£3.47), Northamptonshire (£3.48), Staffordshire (£3.48)

Average-priced beer: Lancashire (£3.50), Dorset (£3.51), Devon (£3.51), Somerset (£3.52), Lincolnshire (£3,55), Cornwall (£3.55), Wiltshire (£3.56), Gloucestershire (£3.60), Suffolk (£3.61), Cambridgeshire (£3.61), Essex (£3.62), Warwickshire (£3.64), Bedfordshire (£3.64), Nottinghamshire (£3.65), Hampshire (£3.66), Norfolk (£3.66), Cheshire (£3.66), Scotland (£3.67)

Expensive beer: Isle of Wight (£3.73), Oxfordshire (£3.74), Buckinghamshire (£3.75), Kent (£3.78), Berkshire (£3.78), Scottish Islands (£3.80), Hertfordshire (£3.81), Sussex (£3.82)

Rip-off beer: London (£4.20), Surrey (£4.40).