Bristol could become the first city in the country to require pubs to sell alcohol-free beer on draught in a drive to improve drinkers’ health.

The Times reported that a report to the city council’s health and wellbeing board recommends pubs should be required to have at least one alcohol-free option on draught “to reduce alcohol consumption”.

It is reported that the city council said the idea would increase consumption of the healthier drinks by making them more visible and socially acceptable because they would look the same in a pint glass as an ordinary beer.

“In order to reduce alcohol consumption, the proposal is to require public houses and bars that serve lager/ale on draught to offer at least one alcohol-free option on draught (perhaps limited to those with a certain minimum number of taps),” the report says.

“Preliminary evidence from the University of Bristol suggests that this will increase the selection of alcohol-free drinks rather than alcoholic drinks by increasing their availability and visibility.

“There is also anecdotal evidence that the opportunity to consume an alcohol-free option in a pint glass would reduce any social stigma associated with selecting alcohol-free options, since the fact that it is alcohol-free would be essentially ‘invisible’ after purchase.