This pub in Lye will be giving away free pints this Thursday

The Railway is among eight pubs across the country offering free beers as part of a campaign by Foster’s to celebrate the tradition of pub banter.

The free pints are being offered after research commissioned by Fosters found a third of pub goers have admitted to exaggerating tales they tell in the local – with many bending the truth about how fun a night out was and how often they get chatted up.

A nationwide poll of 2,000 adult pub-goers found 53 per cent of those who have gone over the top have done so to get a laugh from their mates.

Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) have overstated how much things cost them, 16 per cent haven’t been totally honest about the number of former lovers they’ve had, while 12 per cent have claimed their spicy food tolerance is more robust than it actually is.

Men were more likely than women to exaggerate their tales in almost every category (and twice as likely to exaggerate their salary), except when it came to overstating how fancy their holiday hotel was.

Among all respondents, more than a quarter (27 per cent) have been called out for exaggerating their tales, and of these, 39 per cent are adamant that what they were saying was totally true.

The research also found 56 per cent of those polled have sat through what they believed to be a tall tale in the pub.

It also discovered that banter’ is pub goers’ second favourite thing about their local watering hole – just pipped to the post by the drinks.

The research was commissioned by Foster’s, who created the ‘Cock and Bull Detector’ with the help of a professional polygraph examiner to help pub goers’ prove the incredible stories they tell down the pub are true, rather than a load of cock and bull.

Behavioural expert Jason Hubble, who was commissioned by Foster's to create the Cock & Bull Detector (Image: Foster's)

The term ‘Cock and Bull’ came about hundreds of years ago in Stony Stratford near Milton Keynes, where coaches travelling between London and Birmingham changed horses at two of the main inns. One inn was called The Cock, and the other The Bull, and this is where visitors exaggerated their tales with a pint in hand.

Matt Saltzstein, beer brand director at Foster’s, said: “Our research shows some people are willing to exaggerate just about anything, but more often than not, it is with the intention to raise a smile or two among their mates.

“However, it’s a crying shame to dismiss the elaborate cock and bull tales that are actually true. We think these sorts of stories are just one of the many things which make the British pub such an institution.”

As a result, Foster’s is offering hundreds of free pints in participating pubs to encourage people to visit their local and enjoy a drink as they tell their epic tales.

There is a maximum of two pints per customer, and the offer closes when the £1,000 bar tab has been used up.