Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "This is a positive decision by the European Commission, which follows an exacting examination by them of all the evidence from a wide range of parties.

Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said: "The rules adopted today will ensure that consumers can buy goods and services at the best available prices wherever they are located in the EU while leaving companies without market power essentially free to organise their sales network as they see best."However, in the UK around 50% of pubs are still tied to major brewers for their supply and, according to research by CAMRA, the ‘beer ties’ adds around 6-7% to pub prices. But she will already be in little doubt as to how many publicans view it. Pub tenants and MPs have been “duped and betrayed”, according to the British Pub Confederation, which said the MRO was little more than a myth.

It accused pub companies of seeking to scupper MRO applications by any means necessary, including spooking them with eviction notices. The group also cast doubt on the independence of assessments used to set rents. Is the end of the beer tie good or bad? The pub industry is complex and there’s no doubt that unscrupulous pub operators may have abused the system. However, there are many operators who invest significantly in their pubs and who recognise that supporting successful tenants equates to successful pub companies.As such, Marsden is delighted with the vote. “It’s basically fantastic,” he enthuses. “The industry has been dominated by these pub companies and over the past 20 years they have extracted a massive amount of profit, but have done very little of value.” According to dozens of pub landlords around the country, already wrestling with the rapid decline in the number of Britain’s pubs, the reality has been very different. The small business minister Kelly Tolhurst recently announced the first statutory review of the pubs code and the way it is arbitrated, via the pubs code adjudicator. I certainly don’t have any sympathy for them,” says Marsden. “I hope that many publicans are able to buy their premises, I’d certainly like to buy the Prince.”