'UK pubs closing at rate of 67 a month'

Britain's pubs are closing at the rate of 67 a month as beer sales slump to a record low. Bars are selling 50 million fewer pints of beer a month than they were a year ago. Alarming new figures show beer sales dropped by almost 10 per cent during December - normally the busiest time of the year. The UK's £6bn-a-year pub industry has been hit by a growing move toward drinking at home with cheap supermarket booze and the smoking ban. In the 1970s, 90 per cent of beer was drunk in pubs, compared with just 58 per cent today. - Sunday Mirror​

Racy property valuations in the pub industry, stoked by the interest of activist investors, such as Robert Tchenguiz, had underpinned share prices of many listed pub companies. But now such valuations are being reassessed in a climate that sees smokers separated from their pints and retailers selling cut-price booze. There are too many pubs - a legacy of Britain's manufacturing heyday - and, contrary to headlines about binge-drinking Britain, alcohol sales are falling, with beer volumes down nearly 10 per cent in October and November. - Observer​

Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill will call on MSPs on not to block a Scottish Government move to impose big increases in the cost of alcohol licences for pubs. At present, all pubs pay an initial fee of £172 for a three-year licence, with further fees for renewals. Tory MSP Bill Aitken, convener of Holyrood's justice committee, has tabled a move to block the increases at the committee's meeting on Tuesday. MacAskill will argue the new fees - up to £2,000 in some cases - will end years of the licensing system being subsidised by the taxpayer. Fee income at present covers only 63 per cent of the licensing system's running costs and the rest is met from other council resources. - Scotland On Sunday​

Northern Constabulary has become the first in Scotland to trial a scheme where off-licences use ultraviolet pens to mark bottles and cans with a code so police can track down where alcohol has been illegally bought by under-18s. Police hope finding the source will allow them to snare off-licence owners who are breaking the law, or lead them to arrest older teenagers who often buy alcohol for those who are under-age. - Sunday Herald​