Pub owners are taking advantage of the pandemic to re-establish the centuries-old beer tie.

The last year has seen a steady rolling back of changes introduced by the 2016 Pubs Code. The Code sort to free more pubs from the tie, which obliges tenants to buy beer, products and services from the landlords at inflated prices.

Fewer than 100 of the 10,520 pubs regulated by the Pubs Code have moved to a market rent only arrangement.