CAMRA has reacted angrily to the confirmation that the cask production of `Doom Bar´ will move to Hartlepool, calling it a “betrayal”.

Molson Coors announced plans to close the brewery earlier this year, with no confirmation where it would move beer production to.

At the time, CAMRA Cornwall raised fears that the brewing giant could follow in the footsteps of Carlsberg, who market Wainwright as a ‘Lake District Original’ despite brewing it more than 100 miles away in Wolverhampton.

CAMRA now wants a ‘pasty-style’ guarantee, in law, to prevent the beers being marketed as Cornish.

Dave Pedlar, Cornwall CAMRA Chairman, said: “This is a betrayal of the founders of Sharp’s, the 40 people whose jobs are at risk, and the locals that have supported this business for decades.

“We’ve known for a while that the Sharp’s cask production was moving out of the Duchy, but Hartlepool is 417 miles away, which is as far from Rock as Brussels. We need ‘pasty-style’ consumer protection laws that stop Molson Coors from continuing to market these beers as Cornish.”

Tom Stainer, CAMRA Chief Executive, added: “It’s entirely ridiculous that a beer named after a sandbank in the Camel Estuary, and marketed as a ‘Cornish original’, is now going to be made in Hartlepool. Once again, global brewers are closing breweries, trashing our reputation as a great brewing nation, and misleading ordinary drinkers.

“This is why we’ve launched our new campaign to expose ‘Big Beer’ in the UK, their misleading marketing tactics, and demand that the Competition and Markets Authority investigate how global corporations dominate the beer market. We need decisive action to deliver a fairer beer market for independent brewers and ordinary drinkers.”