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A regional newspaper editor has made an impassioned plea to the Government to try to secure the future prosperity of his town.

Brian Vertigen, editor-in-chief of the Burton Mail, has appealed to Trade and Industry secretary Stephen Byers to allow a proposed take-over of Bass Brewers to go ahead.

In an open letter to the Minister, he asks him to think about the future prosperity of Burton-upon-Trent when he considers the Competition Commission report on the take-over of Bass Brewers by Belgian firm Interbrew.

He said: “Making the wrong decision now could result in Burton having no major breweries at all.”

Brian told HoldtheFrontPage: “It would devastate the town. He has already lost 2,000 jobs in Luton this week, I’m sure he doesn’t want to lose another 2,000 in Burton in January.”

A few years ago Burton was a booming brewing town with three major breweries and two smaller ones. There are now only two main breweries, both of which are under threat of closure – and one small one.

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