Gin, the drink of choice for countless generations of Britons, no longer merits a place at the heart of our national life.

The spirit, first produced in the UK in 1689 and once considered safer to drink than water, has been ditched from the basket of items used to measure inflation.

In a snapshot of the nation's changing tastes, regional cheeses are included at the expense of cheese slices, while digital cameras are now more indicative of spending habits than MiniDisc players.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) changes its 650-strong basket of goods and services once a year to include more up-to-date items.

New things are added to represent increased areas of spending and others deleted as spending on them falls.

An ONS spokesman said gin had been removed because of falling sales relative to other white spirits such as vodka.

Graham Bateman, deputy director of the Gin and Vodka Association, said the decision was no surprise because gin was out of favour among younger drinkers.

He said: "Gin is not losing its popularity and sales are still going up, albeit slowly. But over the past ten years it has not had the sales increase of vodka."

Assessing other changes to the basket, the ONS said it was important to respond to the development of new products.

Consumers had become increasingly knowledgeable about the latest technology and this heralded the inclusion of CDs bought over the internet and digital cameras.

The review also found people were devoting more money to traditional pastimes so fishing rods, acoustic guitars and football boots had been added.

Other items had been dropped to make way for similar products that have become more popular - dishwasher tablets have been included at the expense of dishwasher powder.

Spending on beauty treatments was reflected with the inclusion of the cost of a basic manicure but wine glasses, toasters and regional newspapers were edged out.

Tuesday March 16, 2004