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.”
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