CAMRA dismisses Daily Star pubs story.

The Campaign for Real Ale has reacted angrily to a front-page story in today's Daily Star which quotes CAMRA as saying supermarkets are better for beer than pubs.

The group says the story 'Death of the Pub' is a re-hashing of some old CAMRA press releases but the quotes are totally made-up.

CAMRA press officer Owen Morris, who the quotes have been attributed to, told morningadvertiser.co.uk: "CAMRA has never issued a statement blaming supermarkets for the loss of pubs, nor have we ever said that supermarket beer can be better than that bought in a well-run pub with staff that have cellarman training.​

It's unfortunate that some journalists chose to run a story about CAMRA without first talking to anyone from the organisation​Owen Morris, CAMRA press officer.

"It's unfortunate that some journalists chose to run a story about CAMRA without first talking to anyone from the organisation in order to get the facts."

The Star story, which has been picked up by several other national newspapers, used figures from previous CAMRA press releases which said 26 pubs were closing each month.

It mixed this announcement with a CAMRA press release calling for Government help in cutting 'booze cruises'.

Morris added: "Last August CAMRA launched the Community Pubs Foundation using research that revealed 26 pubs a month were closed forever. ​

"This statistic has been readily available from CAMRA since that time and has featured on the Community Pubs Foundation website www.communitypubs.org.uk​"

"Before last month's budget announcement CAMRA urged the Government to cut excise duty to bring it in line with the rest of the EU which would dissuade people bringing cheaper alcohol into the country from abroad."