A Wetherspoon pub in High Wycombe will slash all food and drink prices by 7.5 per cent next week to bring attention to an ‘unfair’ industry-wide tax.

The Falcon in Cornmarket will cut the prices across the whole of its menu for one day only on Thursday, September 12, to “highlight the benefit of a permanent value-added-tax (VAT) reduction in the hospitality industry”.

All food and drink in pubs across the country is subject to 20 per cent VAT, while supermarkets pay zero VAT – allowing them to sell alcohol to customers at a discounted price.

To mark Tax Equality Day, the JD Wetherspoon brand is showing what a reduced VAT pub menu would look like across all its England, Wales and Northern Ireland branches.

The 7.5 per cent reduction in cost means a customer who would normally spend £10 on a meal and drink will only pay £9.25 on Thursday.

Matt Noades, manager of The Falcon, said: “Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades due to the tax disadvantages they have (compared to) supermarkets.

“It’s unfair that supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, but pubs pay 20 per cent, and the tax benefit also allows them 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 the two.”