Government urged to act after 576 West Midlands pubs close down
Mar 31 2009 by Emma McKinney, Birmingham Mail
CAMPAIGNERS today called on the Government to take urgent action after disturbing new figures showed a higher proportion of pubs have closed their doors in the West Midlands than anywhere else in the UK.
Beer lovers fear time could be called on community pubs after almost a tenth of the region’s pubs shut in the past four years.
Since 2005, 576 (9.6 per cent) of the West Midlands’ 6,013 pubs have closed down – the highest proportion in the UK, according to new statistics by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
IPPR and the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) blame the demise of local pubs on “ludicrous” Government policies.
They also say the recession, shops and supermarkets selling cheap alcohol, an increase in tax on beer, the price some pubs have to pay companies for booze and a fall in the popularity of beer, with more people preferring to drink wine, are also to blame.
They say small community pubs, which cause few problems in terms of alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder, cannot afford the high taxes and struggle with meeting a “minefield” of regulations.
Regional spokesman, Mike Benner ,said that with an average of three pubs closing every week in the West Midlands, more needed to be done to stop them disappearing altogether.
