Two pubs in Basingstoke will slash food and drink prices by 7.5 per cent on Thursday, September 12, to argue for a permanent VAT reduction in the hospitality industry.

The Maidenhead Inn in Winchester Street and The Angel in Festival Place, both Wetherspoon pubs, will make the one-off, one-day cut to mark Tax Equality Day.

For example, customers spending £10 on food and drink at the pubs will pay £9.25 on Tax Equality Day.

Manager of The Angel, Jo Stevens-Yule, said: "Customers coming to The Angel on Thursday, September 12 will find the price of their food and drink is lower than normal.

"It’s unfair that supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, but pubs pay 20 per cent.

"Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades due to the tax disadvantages they have with supermarkets.

"The tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer.

"It doesn't make sense for the hospitality industry to subsidise supermarkets.

"We urge the Chancellor to create tax equality between pubs and supermarkets."

Pubs are subject to 20 per cent VAT on all food and drink.

Wetherspoons argues that supermarkets, which pay no VAT on food, are able to use that saving to sell alcohol at a discounted price, giving them an advantage over pubs.