11 London pubs closing every week
Eleven London pubs are closing every week — that's the stark reality highlighted by a new British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) survey.
The regional survey showed that 281 pubs in the Capital shut their doors for the last time in the first half of 2009.
Other southern regions have also been hit by pub closures, with pub closures in the Meridian region at eight per week. Anglia region pub closures are four per week, and in the south west, the figure is three per week.
The BBPA has urged MPs to join its "I'm backing the pub" campaign.
The campaign manifesto, called "The life and soul of Britain's communities", calls on the Government to reverse the 8% increase in duty on beer imposed at the time of the VAT cut last January, when VAT returns to its 17.5% rate on 1 January 2010, and to scrap plans to increase duty by 2% above inflation in the Budget in March next year.
"These new figures for London show that the loss of pubs in urban Britain is just as big a concern as pub closures in our more rural areas in the south of England. And wherever a pub closes, city or country, something precious about local community life is lost," said Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the BBPA.
"It is time for action, and that's why we are today calling for support from all those who value the pub to work with us to adopt and implement policies to promote our much loved locals. We are therefore calling on all — including politicians and political parties — to back this agenda and to pledge their support for our 'I'm backing the pub' campaign."
