A PUB in Fareham has been put on the market.

The Lord Arthur Lee in West Street is among the JD Wetherspoon pubs up for sale.

The chain had already listed 32 pubs for sale in September, including The Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis in Southampton.

Since then, seven more establishments have been added to the list, including the Fareham branch.

READ MORE: Full list of Wetherspoon pubs up for sale

The company revealed that its sales at the end of 2022 were far higher than the previous year, after a particularly strong Christmas, but still lagging slightly behind pre-pandemic levels.

The group's chairman, Tim Martin, said he feels the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is that pubs and restaurants are taxed unfairly, while supermarkets pay no VAT on food sales.

He said: "Supermarkets pay zero VAT in respect of food sales, whereas pubs and restaurants pay 20 per cent. This tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer.

"We estimate that supermarkets have taken about half of the pub industry's beer volumes since Wetherspoon started trading in 1979, a process that has likely accelerated following the pandemic.

"Pub industry directors have, in general, failed to campaign for tax equality, which is an important principle of taxation."

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