(Bloomberg) - U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne cut the price of a pint of beer by 1 penny, canceling a scheduled increase of 3 pence in a bid to support the country’s pubs. The reduction, which will take effect on March 25, follows a campaign by the brewing and hospitality industry to help save pubs, 10,000 of which have closed in the past decade, Osborne said. Beer-duty rates will in future be increased in line with the retail-price index measure of inflation. Today’s cut refers to “average-strength” beer, the Treasury said.

“Responsible drinkers, and our pubs, should not pay the price for the problems caused by others,” Osborne told lawmakers in the House of Commons in London today. “Instead of the 3 pence rise in beer duty tax planned for this year I am canceling it altogether, that’s the freeze people have been campaigning for, but I’m going to go one step further and I am going to cut beer duty.”