HUNDREDS of obscure laws which date back as far as the 14th century should be swept away in a bid to clear up the statute book, it has been claimed. A joint report by the Law Commission for England and Wales and Scottish Law Commission said there are as many as 817 entire acts and sections of a further 50 that need repealed.

Examples of redundant laws applied to Scotland include 16 acts passed between 1798 and 1828 to tax pints of ale, beer or bitter to raise funds for public works. A spokeswoman for the Scottish Law Commission said: “The importance of Statute Law (Repeals) Acts is that they remove unnecessary clutter. This helps simplify and modernise the law, making it more intelligible and saving the time of lawyers and others who need to know what the law actually is.”