Inch by inch, foot by foot, metric-only plan forced out

LONDON – The European Union threw in the towel Wednesday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons.

The old imperial measures will be allowed to coexist with the EU’s metric system of meters, grams and liters, rather than be dropped by 2009, the EU said.

Some British politicians celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense, and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against the plan that began when a trader was convicted in 2001 for refusing to sell bananas by the kilogram.

“It has been ‘people power’ that has forced the European Commission and the government to abandon the enforced metrication program,” Metric Martyrs leader Neil Herron said in a statement. “We have saved the pint, the mile, the yard, the foot as well as pounds and ounces.”

Britain, like every nation but the United States and two smaller countries, officially uses the metric system. But imperial measures still are put on many road signs, displayed alongside their metric counterparts in stores and used to portion out beer in pubs.

Not everyone was thrilled. Metric-minded Britons argue the system of imperial measurements are antiquated, inconsistent and harmful to the economy.