Sharkey gives his backing to the pub

Former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey helped the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) launch its new campaign last night.

The chief executive of UK Music, along with BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds, was one of the first to sign up in support of the campaign at the Westminster Arms pub in London.

He told industry leaders who gathered for the event that pubs are the lifeblood of the British music industry and that he had started his career playing in a pub.

"Over 15 years we travelled the world and that kept myself, the band and 56 others in employment for 15 years - not bad for a band starting in a pub," he said.

He added: "The combination of pubs and music can knit local communities together.

"It is vital that such a network exists, and for the sake of further creativity it is something we must continue to protect, nurture and encourage."

The campaign - I'm Backing The Pub - calls for a range of measures to put the pub back in to the heart of community life, including relaxing laws around the hosting of live music.

Other aims include encouraging government to lower the tax burden on pubs, cutting red tape and promoting the pub as the home of responsible drinking.

Speaking last night Simmonds said it was "time to move on from (the BBPA's previous campaign) Axe the Tax given the economic climate".

In the foreword to the campaign's manifesto - The Life and Soul of Britain's Communities - she states: "We are now looking to politicians and political parties, national and local, to support the principles of the campaign and develop practical policies that safeguard what is best about community life in Britain today."

The campaign is being run in partnership with the Society of Independent Brewers.