EAST Lancashire traders who are bending the law to sell goods in pounds and ounces today blasted Government legislation that requires them to convert to metric measures.

Several shopkeepers across the area are still using imperial weights and measures -- but they all said that was the way their customers liked it.

Many local traders are using imperial measurements alongside metric kilos and grams.

The row over metrication has been highlighted by the case of Sunderland grocer Steve Thoburn who is being prosecuted for selling fruit in pounds.

Accrington butcher Geoff Feather has served customers on his stall in the town's Market Hall for 42 years and believes no amount of pressure will change customers' shopping habits.

"We serve a lot of older people and they don't want to know what the prices are in kilos," he said.

"It's like when you put petrol in your car. You just do it by how much you've put in, you don't know how many litres it is."

Geoff has already received one warning for selling meat by the pound and his electric scales now register the weight in pounds and kilos.

He said: "They told me I had to stop. They gave me a warning, but when I asked Trading Standards about it the chap just pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and said this is the law.

"If they do keep pestering we'll have to switch over, but it is the public who need to be told, but they don't want to know.

"Some of the customers I serve have been coming here since before I started. We can't blame them -- we are in England, not some foreign country.

"I am against it but I'm not going to go to jail and I'm not going to pay a fine. This is the problem. We'll have to wait and see what happens with this chap and his bananas."

Stephen Turner, a butcher for more than 20 years, runs a stall in Kwik Save in Station Road, Clitheroe.

He said: "I've had to spend hundreds of pounds on getting my scales converted -- it's a nonsense. About 99 per cent of my customers ask for things in pounds. There are very few who ask for grams."

Christine Barnes of Barrel Foods Ltd on Broadway, Accrington, who sell loose goods such as cereal, dried fruits and nuts, added: "The most people we get in are older people who like it in pounds and ounces. Things have to change but it's the old people who are suffering."

John Hilton, 68, has run his butcher's business on Elizabeth Street, Accrington, for more than 20 years. He paid almost £100 to have his scales converted several years ago.

"I changed over but I didn't want to," he said. "The customers don't understand it and I'm against it. We have two prices for the customers but they always ask for what they want in pounds and ounces. A lot of people just don't understand it. It's like feet and inches."

Mike Pilkington of The Pantry on Union Road, Oswaldtwistle said: "If people want pounds and ounces they should be entitled to have it. It can be confusing for some elderly people because they don't know what they are buying sometimes.

"We should have dual standards, not do away with pounds and ounces all together."

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said: "We haven't had to resort to any action at all because most of the traders we have seen have voluntarily changed their scales or have done so when asked.

"It is the law and there are several problems surrounding it. For example, if someone is given a short measure in imperial we don't have any power to do anything about it.

"This is a British law, not a European one, and it is to ensure that we are all working on a level playing field."

Picture: Clitheroe butcher Stephen Turner has spent hundreds of pounds having his scales converted but says 99 per cent of his customers ask for things in pounds