Shepherd Neame, the county's 300-year old award-winning brewer, dismissed the Chancellor's 14p-a-pint cut for small breweries as a "fig leaf". The Faversham-based company that this week won gold for its licensed brews - itself too big to qualify for the reduction - said that only one pint in a hundred would be affected by the cut.

Company vice chairman Stuart Neame said: "It's a fig leaf - so tiny that it simply attracts attention to the problem rather than doing anything to solve it. It endeavours, and fails, to hide the government's embarrassment about the excessive level of UK beer duty, which is six times higher than in France, and results in a million pints being brought across the Channel every day."

Mr Neame, who is also vice chairman of the Independent Family Brewers of Britain, said: "It won't really help the microbrewers who will be expected to pass on any duty changes to their customers. And it does nothing to benefit the 99% of drinkers who enjoy national and regional beers such as those produced by family brewers like Shepherd Neame."