The chain says a number of its pubs do not currently have John Smith's or Strongbow cider because of the carbon dioxide shortage.

Pictures from the scene show the barrels lying on a big heap at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky.

The spirit now accounts for more than a third of total beverage exports, valued at around half a billion pounds per year.

The deal to make Heineken the third largest pub operator in the UK has been given the go-ahead by the competition authority.

The dreaded morning-after feeling could be a thing of the past after scientists in Korea came up with a technique that allows drinkers to avoid a hangover.