(TDB) - A freeze on alcohol duty in last November’s Budget has resulted in revenues for the UK Treasury rising by £67 million in just four months, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).

The latest HMRC figures show collections, from December to April, of £3.29 billion on wine, spirits, beer and cider, up from £3.22bn on the same period last year – a 2% increase – bringing in an additional £86m.

Of this, £67m came from wine and spirit sales alone, meaning that the wine and spirit industry accounted for 78% of the increase. Wine collections have so far increased £33m (+2%) and spirit collections increased £34m (+2%).

Overall, the Treasury expects to collect a projected £7.7 billion from wine and spirit revenues for the financial year 2017/18 – up by £140 million on the previous year.