LAST orders have been called for Scottish & Newcastle, which owns a brewery in Tadcaster, after it agreed a £7.8 million takeover offer.

Britain's biggest brewer whose brands include John Smith's, Newcastle Brown Ale and Kronenbourg 1664, has accepted the offer from rivals Heineken and Carlsberg.

The deal will bring an end to 259 years of independence for Edinburgh-based S&N.

The move has been met with some dismay in York where Trevor King, former chairman of the Licensed Victuallers' Association, said people would have less choice.

"In my opinion, it is another one down the road to globalisation. We are in the situation now that we have fewer and fewer local breweries. Everyone is just tied to the same ones so there's less choice for the real ale drinkers. We are all under one big umbrella of the large breweries. There's not a lot you can do about it unless you are a freehold. There are the York Brewery pubs and some on the outskirts, but they are few and far between."

It was the fourth offer for the business by the European suitors, who have been pursuing S&N since October.

The deal is worth 800p a share - more than 50 per cent higher than when speculation began over a possible takeover in March last year.

Heineken will take control of S&N's UK operations, becoming the UK's leading brewer.

But the Dutch giant would not comment on potential job losses at the company.

Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, Heineken chief executive, said: "It gives us undisputed leadership in Europe and creates significant opportunities in profitable markets."

Danish firm Carlsberg will take on S&N's stake in BBH, their fast-growing 50/50 joint venture in Russia and the Baltic, as well as the firm's operations in France, Greece, China and Vietnam.

S&N chairman Sir Brian Stewart said: "The board believes that the consortium's offer delivers a fair value for S&N, reflecting its growth prospects."

The group currently has about 3,300 staff in the UK, with breweries in Manchester, Reading, Dunston near Newcastle, and Tadcaster.

The company also owns the Bulmers cider mill in Hereford and has administrative staff in Edinburgh and Staines, Middlesex.

S&N is the world's seventh largest brewer by sales volume.

Iain MacLean, national officer of the Unite union said: "The takeover talks have been a hard battle and Scottish & Newcastle has finally succumbed.

"It will result in a period of uncertainty for the workforce and we are primarily concerned about the implications for UK jobs.

"We have a meeting with Scottish & Newcastle next week and we will be looking for Carlsberg Heineken to guarantee the security of our members' jobs."

Price rises and job cuts

TADCASTER'S John Smith's brewery hit the news last week when Scottish & Newcastle revealed it was hiking its prices in a move which will increase the average price of a pint by at least four pence.

The price of a 36-gallon barrel of John Smith's Bitter - brewed at Tadcaster - is going up by £12, but the company said it would be the landlords' decision whether they passed the price rise fully to customers.

Other news affecting the brewery over recent years include last year's decision by company bosses to make John Smith's cask beer on the wrong side of the Pennines, in Warrington, with the loss of about 25 jobs.

Hundreds of York drinkers kicked up a fuss, claiming the traditional Yorkshire beer was tangy and quickly lost its head.

S&N, which brews the beer, confirmed in September that it was again being produced in Tadcaster.

It was unable to confirm for how long the beer would be brewed in the town, and was being delivered to trade customers alongside the Burtonwood brewed product.

In 2003, brewery bosses announced they were axing 21 jobs - including five managers and 16 factory floor workers - only weeks after work on a new multi-million pound bottling plant was suspended.

Parent company Scottish Courage - the brewing arm of S&N - said the redundancies among the 310-strong workforce were necessary to keep down costs and to remain competitive in the brewing industry.