A PETITION containing more than 1,600 signatures voicing opposition to a hike in beer tax in this week's Budget has been presented to Parliament by a Plymouth MP.

Linda Gilroy, Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton, is among campaigners pressing Chancellor Alistair Darling to scrap a planned rise in a bid to turn around the fortunes of the ailing pub industry.

A poll has shown 59 per cent of all MPs, including 41 per cent of Labour backbenchers, oppose the increase, which will see tax on beer increase by two per cent above the rate of inflation.

As part of the 'Axe the Beer Tax' campaign, Mrs Gilroy visited the Maritime Inn on the Barbican to meet Carl Beeson, the owner of the Billacombe-based Summerskills Brewery.

Mr Beeson contacted the MP after reading an article in the Plymouth Herald in which she named Summerskills as her favourite real ale.

At Westminster, she joined Emmerdale actress Adele Silva in lobbying the Government for a freeze on beer tax.

Mrs Gilroy said the campaign both supported local businesses and promoted responsible drinking.

"It's much better for people to pop down their local for a couple of pints with friends and family than it is for them to drink excessively at home," she said.

Mike Benner, chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale, has already warned that a tax increase would be 'the road to ruin' for pubs.

There would be 'no losers' if beer tax was frozen at current levels, he said.

The British Beer and Pub Association argue Mr Darling would be 'flying in the face' of public opinion and his own backbenchers if he went ahead with the planned increase. The BBPA says nationally, pubs are closing at a rate of 39 a week.