Prices at Wetherspoons vary by up to 60% at pubs just 6 min walk apart
If you don't want to get caught out by the variation in prices then there's a way around it - just download the JD Wetherspoon app and check the menu before you decide on a watering hole
PRICES at JD Wetherspoon can vary by up to 60 per cent based on where you drink, even if the pubs are just a few hundred meters apart.
For example, the pub chain charges £10.20 for a sex on the beach cocktail at the Montague Pike in Soho, London, according to an investigation by Channel 4 TV show Supershoppers.
But it found just a 6 minute walk down the road to another branch - The Moon Under Water, near Leicester Square - the same drink costs just £6.50.
While in Birmingham, it found one pub just 300 meters down the road from another charges £1 less for two pints of Stella.
The Figure of Eight pub on Broad Street charges £6.78, while drinkers at the Soloman Cutler charges £7.78.
The Channel 4 TV show, which is broadcast on Thursday at 8pm, also compared the price of the chain's popular burger and pint deal.
In London you could pay £7.85, while a pub in Exmouth charges £6.45 and Norwich £5.95.
How to find cheapest Wetherspoon prices
PRICES for the pub chain vary massively, according to Supershoppers.
But there is some good news for fans of the boozer.
Download the Wetherspoon app to your phone and check prices at your locals before setting off.
That way you're always guaranteed to find the cheapest menu.
Boss of the chain Tim Martin told The Sun that the price differences between branches which are near to each other was "probably due to error in the comparison or perhaps a lack of clarity" in the Wetherspoon app.
He said: "The Montague Pyke usually sells larger pitchers of cocktails and the Moon Under Water sells only by the glass, since the latter pub has no room to store pitchers.
"In order to clarify, a glass of Sex on the Beach costs £6.25 at The Montague Pyke and £6.60 at the Moon Under Water."
He added: "Wetherspoon aims to have competitive prices, compared to other pubs in the localities in which it trades.
"In practical terms, as a result especially of a huge variation in rent and business rates, it is not feasible to charge the same prices throughout the country.
"In our experience, pub prices vary according to the location for most or all pub companies.
"There is a price differential between The Montague Pyke in Charing Cross Road and the Moon Under Water in Leicester Square, both in Central London.
"This is due to the fact that rent and rates are far higher in Leicester Square, amounting to approximately £750,000 per annum."
He added that manager have "considerable autonomy when it comes to prices", although variations in local prices are "kept under review".
It's not the first time that prices at the pub giant, which has over 900 branches across the UK, has been scrutinised.
In November last year analysis by the Financial Times found that some of the chain's pubs charge up to £10 more for the same food and drink offer.
In March, this newspaper revealed how Wetherspoons has hikes prices for the THIRD time in a year.
The increase came just six weeks after a dodgy meat scandal saw the chain pull steak from the menu.
The Sun Online has contacted JD Wetherspoon for a comment.
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