'It's a dark day for ale drinkers like me - Carlsberg will be removing part of Wolverhampton's soul'

A headline on the Carlsberg Group's website: 'Carlsberg and Brooklyn Brewery launch first ever lager where all barley is replaced with drought-resistant fonio grain'.

For real-ale lovers, it is hard to think of a more dispiriting sentence. Apart from this week's news that Carlsberg Marston's is to discontinue cask production of Banks's Mild and Sunbeam ales.

Shelly Bentley, regional director for the Campaign for Real Ale, says she finds it hard to take the news in, and it is hard to argue.

I've said it before, and make no apology for repeating it. Banks's is not just a beer brand, it is part of Wolverhampton's soul. I never thought I would live to see the day when Britain's biggest selling mild ale was no more.