A DECISION to sever the "beer tie" between tenants and pub companies could benefit micro breweries across the borough, according to a Bury MP.

Bury North MP David Nuttall voted against his own party in the House of Commons to back a bid to end the tie, which the Campaign for Real Ale said would secure the future of pubs and keep the price of a pint affordable.

Under the plans, pub tenants will be able to buy beer on the open market instead of being forced to buy it from their landlord, and would also be entitled to an independent rent review.

Mr Nuttall said this vote could benefit the burgeoning number of microbreweries across the borough, such as Radcliffe-based Brightside and Bury-based Outstanding Beers.

Mr Nuttall said: "I think the new arrangement has the potential to be good for the consumer and good for small businesses in Bury.

"It will give tied tenants the opportunity if they wish to buy beer from other breweries, and this should be good news for the many micro breweries we have in Bury and Ramsbottom.

"If the present tied arrangement, which forces tied tenants to purchase beer only from their landlord, often at an inflated price, is as good a deal for the tenants as the pub companies claim, then they should have nothing to fear and the tenants will leave the current arrangements as they are."

James Smith, who runs Ramsbottom microbrewery Brewsmith Beer with his wife Jennifer, said sales to pubs amount to about 80 per cent of the firm's sales.

He hopes that the decision by MPs to add the amendment to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will benefit his business.

Mr Smith said: "In theory it is a good thing, it should help to hope the market up for us and give us more places to sell. Hopefully it should improve our sales, but it is hard to see it having an immediate impact."

Under the current arrangements, tied pubs buy alcohol from their landlord in return for benefits such as reduced rent, but non-tied pubs often pay considerably lower prices for beer.

The British Beer and Pub Association criticised the new proposals, describing them as "damaging" and claiming they could affect jobs in pubs and hit breweries because the loss of exclusivity agreements.