A brewery has sparked anger by confirming its decision to ban a traditional Sussex ale from one of its pubs.

Greene King, the Bury St Edmunds based brewing giant, has infuriated drinkers of Harveys, a hugely popular Lewes ale, after banning it from the Lewes Arms in Mount Place, Lewes, in a bid to bolster sales of its own brands such as IPA.

Many drinkers at the Lewes Arms say they will no longer be able to go there.

Mr Inman, a regular, said: "It has left a lot of people very disappointed and upset. There is talk of picket lines and further protests but the reality is there is very little we can do.

"Greene King owns the pub and can run it how they like despite what the people here really want."

One Harveys drinker told The Argus yesterday: "I will never touch a pint of Greene King and to be honest they can go screw themselves."

The ban will start immediately and brings to an end a long-running threat by Greene King to remove Harveys from the pumps at the Lewes Arms, despite a huge campaign to keep it.

More than 1,200 people signed petitions and Lewes MP Norman Baker attempted to broker a deal between the parties to try to keep the popular ale.

Yesterday Mr Baker said Greene King's reputation would nosedive in Lewes and beyond and said the move to ban Harveys in favour of Greene King's own brands could backfire.

He criticised the brewery for being "inflexible", adding: "There were options which, in my view, would have allowed the local bitter to stay in the Lewes Arms while providing compensatory benefits for Greene King's but sadly it seems such an agreement was not possible.

"I am bound to say that in my judgement Greene King has ultimately shown themselves to be inflexible and has rejected the olive branches offered.

"I genuinely believe it is not in their interest to have reached this conclusion and their standing in Lewes will inevitably be negatively affected by this decision."

Greene King defended the move and said: ""A number of trading options were presented in an effort to preserve the status quo at the Lewes Arms while maintaining the integrity of both companies.

"Sadly, none proved acceptable in a wider context."

However, Mr Baker summed up the thoughts of hundreds of Harveys drinkers yesterday when he said: "This leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth. Sadly not that of Harveys."