Could inches, pounds and pints return?

FANS of pints, inches and pounds hope that imperial measures are poised for a comeback.

The Government has confirmed it will consider using post-brexit freedoms to allow greater use of the traditional measurements.

Today, the only products that can be sold in imperial units are draught beer or cider by the pint; milk in “returnable containers” by pint; and precious metals by troy ounce.

When pushed by Tory MP Philip Davies to let goods be sold in imperial measurements only, Business Minister Paul Scully said: “Now we have left the EU we will consider whether further limited exemptions can be applied for other traditional uses.”

Warwick Cairns, British Weights & Measures Association spokesman, said people should be free to use whatever system they wanted.

He said: “If you go to the supermarket and you want a pound of bananas or a pound of apples or whatever you should be free to ask for it and to receive it.” Mr Cairns added that modern scales that can switch between imperial and metric measurements are “commonplace”.

He looks forward to a renaissance of champagne being sold in pint bottles once again. Winston Churchill described an imperial pint of champagne as “an ideal size for a man like me”.

Mr Cairns said imperial measures are “a living connection with our past. A lot of these measures come from the Romans who in turn took them from other cultures before them”.

But anyone hoping Brexit will spell the end of metric will be disappointed.

Mr Scully said: “The Government recognises some people have a preference to use imperial units in their day to day lives. At the same time, it recognises that many others are not familiar with imperial units and that the use of metric is a necessity for British businesses to compete in markets around the world.”