An online petition demanding a debate on the deeply unpopular beer tax escalator has broken through the 100,000 mark needed to trigger a Parliamentary debate.

News of the landmark achievement - only the twelth out of 16,000 to do so - has led the beer and pub industry, which collectively kick-started the government e-petition, to raise its metaphorical glasses in celebration.

Introduced by Alastair Darling in 2008, the beer duty escalator, has been continued by the coalition. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) says the tax has successively penalised Britain's beer drinkers by automatically increasing duty levels by 2% above inflation every year.

As a result, tax on beer has increased by over 40% since 2008, with a third of every pub pint now being swallowed in tax. Over 4,500 pubs have also closed over the same period with the loss of 20,000 jobs.

Colin Valentine, CAMRA national chairman, said: 'Joining a very small minority of e-petitions to have ever reached the 100,000 landmark is a mammoth achievement, and it's been fantastic to witness the beer and pub industry uniting to fight back against this issue.

'CAMRA's next step is not to rest on our laurels but to maintain the impetus with our mass Parliamentary lobby, which will reinforce to MPs the groundswell of support for this campaign. With all the battering it has taken, the beer and pub sector still manages to contribute over £21bn a year to the UK's GDP, and supports 1m jobs, so it's about time the government honoured its pledge to be "pub friendly".'

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) says a typical British pub is now paying £66,500 worth of duty and VAT on beer every year.

And it points to research from Oxford economists that appears to show that the policy is of little benefit to the government.

The BBPA says that in 2012 around 5,000 jobs will be lost because of the policy, while the £35m that the Treasury collects from the tax, is effectively neutered by loss of revenue through job losses, lost VAT and other taxes.

BBPA chief executive, Brigid Simmonds, said: 'Thanks to the huge numbers who are supporting the campaign, this should be a real wake-up call for the government.

'I hope even more people will now sign, as further huge annual tax hikes must not go ahead. They are hurting pubs and destroying our ability to create much needed jobs.'