Cheers! Scotland one of the most expensive places for a pint of beer

The average price of a pint in Scotland has soared by 10p over the last year, to hit 2.90.

Scotland is now ranked alongside Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Kent, Sussex and Bedfordshire in a league table of prices.

Experts at The Good Pub Guide say Scots are likely to be "shocked" when they see how their average prices compared with other parts of Britain, and said it was likely to be down to growing costs encountered by the licensed trade in Scotland.

Drinkers in Scotland are paying an average of 30p more for a pint compared to the likes of Lancashire, Derbyshire and Cumbria. And the price in Scotland is 10p higher than the UK average and 41p higher than it was just three years ago.

Meanwhile, the average cost of pub food across Britain has risen by 5 per cent over the last year as bar and restaurant owners have taken their menus more upmarket.

• The best Scottish pubs - according to the Good Pub Guide

The compilers of The Good Pub Guide, who have warned of growing concerns about poor service and pubs being short-staffed over the last year, say there are "significant regional variations" in the prices being charged in pubs. The average price of a pint in the West Midlands, for example, is 2.45 while in Nottinghamshire and Lancashire the cost is 2.59 and 2.61 respectively.

The gap is much smaller between the average Scottish price and the 3.07 average notched up in London over the last year.

The guide also reports that the North-West of England now boasts several premises which can rival Scotland's best pubs for their collection of malt whiskies.

But Scotland has reclaimed the crown for the nation's best whisky pub, after losing out in two of the last three years, with the Sligachan Hotel, on the Isle of Skye, the only establishment north of the Border to be named best in Britain in any of the guide's 14 separate categories.

The Plockton Hotel, in the picturesque West Highland village name near the Skye Bridge, was named Scotland's best pub food establishment, while three new Scottish entries won places in the guide - the Clachaig Inn, in Glencoe, The Anderson bar-restaurant, in Fortrose, and the Moulin Hotel, in Pitlochry.

Fiona Stapley, co-editor of the guide, which features more than 5,000 licensed premises throughout Britain, said many pubs in Scotland faced higher costs as they were unable to source beer from local breweries.

She added: "I think people will be a bit shocked in Scotland that the price of beer is so high.There is a big difference between the average price in Scotland and many parts of England.

"A lot of it is down to the fact that many pubs are run by big companies who will face higher costs bringing in beer from around the country to Scotland.

"Many of these operators have been suffering during the economic downturn, and putting up their prices is seen as a way of raising money easily."

Jim O'Brien, manager of the Scotsman Lounge, in Cockburn Street, one of the cheapest pubs found by The Scotsman in Edinburgh city centre, said: "The prices do seem to be a lot higher in Edinburgh, but a lot of it is down to the fact that the business rates are so high in the city."

Fraser Laurie, owner of Babbity Bowsters, in Glasgow's Merchant City, said: "We have so many more costs to deal with these days thanks to the introduction of new licensing regulations in recent years. It is now really expensive to run a bar with the amount of red tape involved."