Sales of Buckfast tonic wine are booming in Scotland since the introduction of minimum unit pricing, which appears to have partially priced out the competition from cheap cider, an NHS study has found.

There has been a drop in the volume of alcohol being sold per adult in Scotland from the equivalent of 7.4 to 7.1 litres of pure alcohol since the base was set at 50p per unit in May 2018.

Sales of cider fell most sharply, by 18.6 per cent, as prices rose 13p per unit to an average of 56p, demonstrating the efficacy of the policy, which was aimed at the cheapest products. However, sales of fortified wine, a market dominated by Buckfast, have risen by 16.4 per cent, according to a