Cut-price booze and tax rises blamed for demise of the Great British pub in Southampton

An incredible 56 have vanished since 2006 – equivalent to more than 23 per cent of Southampton’s stock of pubs, say the British Beer and Pubs Association (BBPA).

It is part of a massive collapse in pub numbers across the south of the county, which has seen almost 100 landlords call time for good, at the cost of an estimated 500 jobs.

Cut price booze offers from supermarkets, rocketing beer taxes and the rise of the pub companies that own thousands of pubs are all blamed for the steep decline in pub numbers, which has seen the UK total plummet by 4,271 since 2006.

More than 12 per cent of south Hampshire pubs have gone – double the national average. Now the region has just 674 pubs, 97 fewer than the total of 771 in 2006.

Only Fareham has seen an increase in pub numbers, with one completely new venue, the JD Wetherspoon owned Crown Inn in West Street, opening this year.

Southampton Titanic themed pub The Grapes, pictured, is the most high profile of recent closures, with Winchester’s Stanmore Hotel another to make waves when it shut in order to be converted into a care home.

The Merryoak in Southampton is another casualty along with the Langley Tavern on the Waterside and the Captain Barnard in Compton, near Winchester.

Chris Huhne, is MP for Eastleigh, which has seen a 14 per cent fall in pub numbers with ten licensed premises closing.

He is one of a group of MPs calling on the Chancellor not to raise beer tax in April’s budget.

He said: “There has been a spate of pub closures in south west Hampshire over the past four years. We have been nearly twice as hard hit as the country as a whole.

“Traditional public houses are being unfairly priced out of the market while supermarkets offer cheap deals without the level of restrictions and responsibilities required of pub licensees. That’s why the Chancellor should not raise beer tax in this budget.

“At least 500 jobs have been lost locally because of the budget’s impact on pubs.”

Southampton city councillor Royston Smith, Cabinet member for economic development, said: “It’s sad and it worries me because what we are ending up with is a dominance of the sort of pubs and clubs where binge drinking is common.

“Local pubs, family pubs, friendly suburban pubs are the ones that have suffered the most. The culture is changing but pubs have a really important part to play in communities.”

Steve Lamond, of beer lovers group the Campaign for Real Ale, said: “I am surprised at the magnitude of this. Pubs are important community hubs and drinking at home is not as sociable. There is a culture now of people stocking up on cheap alcohol from supermarkets before they go out and that’s unhealthy.

“Pubs are part of the fabric of Britain and ale is the national drink, so this is a sad day.”