Dozens of struggling pub landlords were lobbying MPs at Westminster today about the plight of their trade.

John Grogan: Pub is often focus of community

They were highlighting research showing rural pubs are closing at a rate of six a week.

The meeting was organised by the MP for Selby, John Grogan, the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group and the Federation of Licensed Victuallers.

They were calling for rate relief for rural pubs.

Mr Grogan said: "The pub is important not just as a place where people go for a drink but is often all that is left to provide a community focus.

"The shop has gone, the post office has gone and the school has gone.

"Shops and post offices in villages with less than 3,000 population get 50 per cent rate relief.

"We want a commitment to extend that rate relief to pubs."

Mr Grogan emphasised that the campaign was not about saving "museum pieces" but pubs often ran by entrepreneurs desperate to make a living.

The Government is due to publish a Countryside White Paper in the spring.

The Evening Press has highlighted the plight of struggling rural pubs in recent months.

Many pubs around the county are under threat of being converted or bulldozed to make room for housing.

Many rural landlords have responded to the campaign, and many were expected to make the trip to the House of Commons today.

They were explaining how high rents and rates, bootlegging, new working regulations and public transport problems are forcing them out of business.

The editor of The Publican, Lorna Harrison, said: "There is now a real danger that the village pub - an important part of British culture and history - could be lost forever."

The president of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, David McCormick, who has run a village pub near Preston, Lancashire, for 15 years, said: "My rent's £600 a week and my rates have just gone up from £5,000 to £8,000 a year. This reduction will help many of us stave off bankruptcy.

"The costs are colossal. Yet we don't have the benefit of a bus service or other facilities like they do in towns."

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