BREWING company, Tiny Rebel, have had to pay thousands of pounds to change a can design for their award-winning beer Cwtch, after a ruling said it could appeal to children.

As previously reported, the Newport-based brewer was told to scrap their colourful yellow design after one complaint said it looked like a can of soft drink.

Alcohol industry standards body the Portman Group ruled the 33cl can breached packaging and marketing codes for alcoholic drinks.

In an online statement, the brewery said the overall costs for the changes were around £31,000 split between legal fees and travel, rebranding, manufacture, loss of Cwtch can stock and creating new designs and print plates for Clwb and Cali cans which could be potentially affected.

It adds the ruling sets a precedent with unclear boundaries and “no clear difference between what is and isn’t allowed”.

Referencing the single complaint which led to the ruling, the brewers added the decision will force companies to be “over-cautious in design which is inherently limiting”.

“Instead of designing something for what consumers would like, companies have to design bearing what the most prudish among us wouldn’t like.”

The statement added the complaint took five-months of work to resolve and a “fair bit of stress” for a change that only affects cans in the UK market after April 1, 2018.

Changes to the Cwtch can include moving the graffiti-style logo to the back of the can.

The statement adds that everyone in the alcohol industry should discuss regulation rules adding that enforced changes on the basis of one complaint, creates a “system that is open to abuse”.

To view Tiny Rebel’s full statement, visit www.tinyrebel.co.uk