Vintage wines have long been an investment opportunity for wealthy connoisseurs, but now there’s a £250.80-a-bottle (about R5 800) beer – possibly Britain’s priciest pint.

Fuller’s 1997 Vintage Ale can be bought online or at Fuller’s pubs in the South and is an eye-watering 6 032 percent dearer than the brewer’s £4.09 Vintage 2016 ale, for example.

That is followed by the 1998 edition at £237.60, then the 2000 brew, which is selling for £211.20.

Price variations are due to age, rarity and the different hops used each year – and more people are buying vintage beer as an investment.

The Parcel Yard pub, in Kings Cross station, London, is one of a number of select bars serving a range of Fullers Vintage Ales.

A barman there said that the 2000 ale’s £211 price tag is not putting drinkers off, adding: “People do order it. I have sold a few but it’s really rare. I have tasted it, it’s nice, it’s quite strong.”

Other pubs selling the ales include the Admiralty in Trafalgar Square or London’s Pride in Heathrow’s Terminal 2.