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Ministers unveiled the plans yesterday in an effort to ban shops and bars in England and Wales from selling drinks for less than the tax paid on them.
 

The proposal is part of efforts to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder which costs the taxpayer up to £13 billion each year.
 

But the move will see cost price defined as just duty plus VAT, stopping short of setting a minimum price for the alcohol itself, leaving a can of weak lager costing at least 38p and a litre of vodka £10.71.

Landlords and off-licence owners in Cambridge said the Coalition is still not doing enough to tackle problem drinking.

Ed Read, manager of the off-licence Bacchanalia in Mill Road, said: “The proposal is completely pointless. It’s just another botched attempt by the Government to address the alcohol issue. This isn’t going to solve anything.

“It is not a bad idea as cheap drinks encourage kids to buy alcohol – but it is not enough. Problem drinkers are an issue with society. If the Government want to make a change they should tackle these people directly and not waste their time with such small steps.”
 

Alan Hewitt, landlord at The White Horse in High Street, Milton, said: “I don’t think the move will make a lot of difference. It’s a small step. The Government is too scared of big supermarkets.

“I would like the minimum to be much higher. I am tired of having people come to my pub who are already drunk after consuming cheap alcohol from supermarkets. Then the extra revenue could help bring down the price of fuel and other products that we rely on.”
 

Lib Dem Cllr Tim Bick, Cambridge City Council’s executive councillor for community development and health, said the plan was a modest move in the right direction.

He said: “When Parliament imposes duty on alcohol it aims to deter excessive consumption, which the whole community pays for in health care and sometimes anti-social or violent behaviour: these are all significant problems in Cambridge.
 

“The degree to which this bites in Cambridge remains to be seen, but among other promised measures in licensing legislation, the Government has stopped avoiding the issue and started to show some leadership, which is welcome.”