AT LEAST 17 pubs in the York area - all owned by one brewery - are now closed and looking for managers.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy has appealed to Samuel Smith's Brewery to get them reopened as soon as possible, saying they are important community centres and their closures damage the fabric of local life.

And York Central MP Rachael Maskell has described pubs as the 'very heart and soul of our communities, places where life happens, friends meet up and people chew over all that is going on,' and called for a law change so they can be more easily run by the community for the community.

The closed pubs range from idyllic country hostelries overlooking ponds and village greens to city centre outlets serving tourists or local residents, and some have only shut relatively recently while others have been closed since 2019.

Very similar adverts for live-in joint management couples for 17 pubs within 20 miles of York are all posted on Gumtree:

*The York Arms in High Petergate, York, which has been closed since July 2019.

*The Brown Cow in Hope Street, off Walmgate, which only closed relatively recently.

*The Ebor in Bishopthorpe, closed since long-serving tenant landlord Gordon Watkins died in February last year.

*The Blacksmiths Arms at Skelton, closed since July 2020 .

*The Agar Arms at Warthill, closed since September 2019.

*The Buckles Inn on the A64 near Bilbrough, closed since October 2019.

*The Tankard in Rufforth,closed since spring 2019.

*The Six Bells in Strensall.

*The Shoulder of Mutton at Appleton Roebuck.

*The Cross Keys Inn at Stillingfleet.

*The Crown Inn at Bolton Percy.

*The Castle Inn at Sheriff Hutton.

*The Angel & White Horse in Tadcaster.

*The Commercial Hotel in Knaresborough.

*The Marquis of Granby in Knaresborough.

*The New Inn at Stamford Bridge.

*The Rose & Crown at Askham Richard.

Mr Sturdy said he worked intensively to support York hospitality during lockdown and was concerned that so many local pubs remained vacant for long periods.

"Pubs are important community centres, particularly for York’s outlying villages and smaller settlements across our county, and their closure damages the fabric of local life," he said.

"I am sure Sam Smith’s is aware of its responsibility to local communities as a significant Yorkshire business, and would hope they have a clear plan to get these sites up and running again.

"I know a definite commitment on this would be welcomed by affected neighbourhoods.”

Ms Maskell that to lose pubs took away a vital space, and yet the 'broken managed system dictated by the big breweries' was 'suffocating the sector.'

She said:"Publicans want to be able to choose their stock and determine their business to really make their pubs the life and soul of their areas, and yet are suffocated by contracts which make it near impossible to run your local hostelry.

"I have been campaigning for the law to change, so that we can easily see pubs transfer into becoming community assets, run by the community for the community.”

The Press would have liked to ask Samuel Smith's Brewery when it hopes these pubs will reopen but it has a policy of not speaking to the media.

*Are you missing one of these pubs? Email mike.laycock@thepress.co.uk.