Workers at old-established family firm Hook Norton Brewery are waiting to hear if the company will qualify for the cut in beer tax.

Managing director James Clarke, great-great-grandson of the founder of the 153 year-old brewery, said: "We produce 19,000 barrels of beer a year, or nearly 6 million pints, but we fear that duty will be halved only for small breweries that produce up to 18,000 barrels -- or 5.25m pints.

"If we fail to win the concession it will, of course, put an unfair squeeze on jobs."

The brewery employs 43 people at its historic site, where dray horses still work, and owns 42 pubs.

The duty on a pint of beer produced by small brewers will be cut by half, a concession worth 14p a pint, in time for the World Cup this summer. Mr Clarke said he could cut production to qualify, but would not do that. He added: "It is wrong for legislation to force cutbacks."

Jim Burrows, chief executive of the Brakspear brewery in Henley, described the budget as "seriously bad news".

He said: "He has seriously discriminated against traditional small regional brewers -- the microbrewer will be at a substantial advantage over us and could take away trade. We are already struggling financially."