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Wetherspoons is ditching French champagne and German wheat beers for British and Australian brands in the run-up to Brexit.

The Watford-based pub chain - whose chairman backed the leave campaign - has announced that it will sell more drinks from British and non-European manufacturers.

Moët & Chandon champagne is being swapped with sparkling wines from the UK and Australia, while more UK wheat beers will be sold, replacing beers from German breweries Erdinger and Tucher.

The switch will affect all 880 Wetherspoon pubs from July 9.

(Image: Western Mail)

Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin, a strong supporter of Brexit, said: "This move helps us to broaden our horizons so that we create an improved offer for the two million customers who visit our pubs each week.

"It is the start of a review all products in the next six to 24 months, with the object of making our business more competitive.

"The EU's customs union is a protectionist system which is widely misunderstood.

(Image: DXD)

"It imposes tariffs on the 93 per cent of the world that is not in the EU, keeping prices high for UK consumers.

"Tariffs are imposed on wine from Australia, New Zealand and the US, and also on coffee, oranges, rice and more than 12,000 other products.

"There will be an inevitable transfer of trade post-Brexit to countries outside the EU, which will reduce prices in shops and pubs.

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"The products we are now introducing are at lower prices than the EU products they are replacing.

"We intend to honour existing contracts with EU suppliers, some of which have several years to run.

"However, we are starting to make the transition to non-EU trade now."

Which brands are being replaced?

Moët champagne will be replaced with sparkling wines from the UK including Denbies Sparkling Whitedowns Brut and Whitedowns Rose Brut from the Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey, as well as Hardys Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay from Australia.

The pubs will also serve wheat beers made in the UK - Blue Moon Belgian White (owned by US-based MillerCoors), Thornbridge Versa Weisse Beer (from Derbyshire) and Cardiff-based SA Brains' Atlantic White.

Wheat beers from German breweries Erdinger and Tucher are being dropped.

Wetherspoons will continue to serve Kopparberg cider from Sweden.

Kopparberg has confirmed that it will be producing its cider in the UK post-Brexit.

Alcohol-free Adnams Ghost Ship, produced by Suffolk-based Adnams Brewery, will replace Erdinger alcohol-free beer from Germany.