After years of wrangling between the UK and the European Commission (EC), it has been agreed that the UK does not have to abandon imperial measurements and replace them with metric. Instead, the two can be used alongside each other.

The deadline for the UK to complete full metrication - including changing all road signs to kilometres and banning the serving of beer in pints - had been 2010. But that has now been abandoned, the BBC reported.

Science and Innovation Minister Ian Pearson said:

"This shows that the Commission has listened to our views and recognised the strong arguments that we've made for maintaining dual metric and imperial labelling and the right for the UK to decide on the future use of pints and miles.

"We know how important this is to the British people and are grateful for the Commission's support for this use to continue. It clearly demonstrates the value of working together with the Commission to achieve our aims."