A plan to expand the use of imperial measures has been abandoned because of fears it could be confusing, the Government said yesterday.
The Department for Business and Trade said a consultation on allowing shops to sell goods in pounds and ounces had generated little public support – and had raised concerns about the confusion and cost of running metric and imperial systems at the same time.
The decision means that most goods will continue to have to be sold by law using the metric system, apart from exceptions like pints of beer and milk.
Boris Johnson ordered a review of weights and measures laws in 2021, saying that Brexit could provide an opportunity to restore the ‘ancient liberty’ of allowing traders to decide what measurements they should use.
It followed controversy over EU laws introduced 20 years earlier which meant that metric units had to be the main way to sell most goods.
The Department for Business and Trade said a consultation on allowing shops to sell goods in pounds and ounces had generated little public support – and had raised concerns about the confusion and cost of running metric and imperial systems at the same time (stock photo)
In 2001, so-called ‘metric martyr’ Steve Thoburn was prosecuted for selling bananas weighed on imperial scales at his market stall in Sunderland.
But the consultation found that most people were happy with the current system which means that metric units have to be displayed more prominently.
Just 17.6 per cent of respondents wanted to move to a purely metric system, while only 0.4 per cent wanted to return to a purely imperial system.
The Government said that instead of changing the law, it would issue new guidance to traders ‘to promote awareness of the current freedoms that exist to display imperial units, alongside a more prominent metric equivalent’.