CEREDIGION has lost a quarter if its pubs since 2010, according to official figures. Across the area, 25 pubs and bars have closed their doors for good.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in 2010 there were 100 pubs and bars, but by 2017 that had fallen to 75.

Across the UK 5,745 pubs closed over the period.

Pubs have been pointing the finger of blame at the taxman for their troubles, complaining about the duty on beer, VAT levels and the cost of business rates.

Britain’s Beer Alliance, a group of organisations in the pub and brewing sector, has started a campaign, Long Live the Local, with a petition and calls for people to write to their MP to have beer duty reduced.

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “We are calling on the government to cut beer duty in the upcoming November budget. Seven in 10 alcoholic drinks sold in a pub are beer, so cutting beer duty is the most direct way of helping pubs. This is why we are backing the Long Live the Local campaign to cut beer tax.”

A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “Ninety per cent of pubs across the country can benefit from the business rates relief introduced at Budget 2017, which could save them up to £1,000 a year. In addition, both businesses and their customers have saved around £3 billion since 2013 thanks to changes to alcohol duty.”

The latest data from the ONS shows that between 2016 and 2017, 655 pubs and bars called time for the last time. In Ceredigion the number of pubs and bars was unchanged.

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