Two pubs in Ayr and Prestwick are to cut the price of all food and non-alcoholic drink for one day only later this month.

Prices will be slashed by 7.5 per cent at The West Kirk in Ayr's Sandgate and The Prestwick Pioneer in Main Street on Thursday, September 12.

This is to mark Tax Equality Day which aims to highlight the benefit of a permanent VAT reduction in the hospitality industry.

For example, a customer spending £10 on food and non-alcoholic drink will pay £9.25 on Tax Equality Day.

All food and drink in pubs is subject to 20 per cent VAT. By comparison, supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, and are able to use that saving to sell alcohol to its customers at a discounted price.

The pubs' managers, Simon Patrick Cole and Euan Scott, said: "Customers coming to The West Kirk and The Prestwick Pioneer on Thursday, September 12 will find the price of their food and non-alcoholic drink is lower than normal.

"It’s unfair that supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, but pubs pay 20 per cent.

"Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades due to the tax disadvantages it has with supermarkets.

"The tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer. It doesn't make sense for the hospitality industry to subsidise supermarkets."