Bill Etheridge, who represents the West Midlands in the European Parliament, believes a move back to the UK Government stamp, guaranteeing full and half-pint glasses are the correct size, could help revive Britain's glass-making sector.

An EU Measuring Instruments Directive which came into force in late 2006 meant manufacturers had to mark the letters "CE" on newly-made pint pots, although existing Crown-stamped glasses could still be used in pubs.

Demands for the return of the Crown stamp follow similar calls for post-Brexit Britain to allow traders to ditch metric measures.

Bill Etheridge

Mr Etheridge, Ukip's defence spokesman and a member of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), said: "All drinkers remember the Crown mark, knowing that it guaranteed them a full pint, indeed there are still some around.

"Reintroduced gradually, as replacements, they are not a throwback to a nostalgic era, but a move to put us back in control of the production and specifications of our own pint."

Mr Etheridge, who is also a councillor in the Sedgley area of Dudley, added: "Across the whole range of manufacturing we have to look at returning to our own systems of British Standards as we unravel ourselves from EU red tape.

"Any nostalgia should be to return to an era when British Standards set the agenda and were respected throughout the world.

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"Once we are free to make our own trade deals again, they will be at the forefront of our sales pitch."

The move to the "CE" mark was opposed by many major brewing industry firms in 2007 after it was ruled that the EU directive did not permit the use of other measure-related markings on new glasses.

In May 2007 a group of Conservative MEPs said they were reassured by a letter from a vice-president of the European Commission that "a Crown stamp look-alike could naturally be affixed to the glass, as long as it is done in such a way that it is not confused with the CE marking".

At the time the Measuring Instruments Directive came into force, Camra said the vast majority of pint glasses were manufactured by overseas companies, including firms in the Czech Republic.