Press Release: Government saves the pint and the mile

The future of the pint of beer and the mile in the United Kingdom were secured in December 2008, after the European Parliament agreed a proposal to update the Directive on Units of Measurement (Directive 80/181/EC) to remove the 2009 deadline for the end of supplementary indications (the use of imperial alongside metric). This will allow the UK to decide the future use of the mile for road traffic, the pint for draught beer and cider and bottled milk and the troy ounce for precious metals.