PUBS face ruin unless a freeze on beer duty is brought back, industry chiefs say.
Boozers will be hit with a £360million blow, just as rising costs have sent the price of a pint soaring, it is claimed.
The end of the freeze will add 33p to the typical cost of a lager — which is already up by eight per cent to £4.13.
Emma McClarking, of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “Many just managed to pull through the pandemic but what we are facing now is crippling businesses at an unprecedented rate.
“We need the beer duty freeze reinstated.”;
Pubs have been struggling with rising energy, food and staffing bills.
About 50 a month are closing, with beer sales tumbling by ten per cent this year.
The freeze announced by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in September gave a ray of hope — only for successor Jeremy Hunt to abandon it a few weeks later.
Brewery boss Oliver Robinson said: “The U-turn has not helped the mood. We need some let-up.”;
