A QUARTER of Swindon’s pubs and bars have shut since 2010, official figures show.

In the past eight years, 35 have shut their doors to customers. They are among the 5,475 pubs and bars to have closed across the UK since 2010.

Pub bosses have blamed rising beer duty, VAT and business rates. Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “We are calling on the government to cut beer duty in the upcoming November budget.

“Seven in 10 alcoholic drinks sold in a pub are beer, so cutting beer duty is the most direct way of helping pubs.”

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were 105 pubs and bars in Swindon last year, down from 140 in 2010. It represents a 25 per cent drop.

Among the pubs to have closed in the past decade are some of Swindon’s oldest. They include The Prince of Wales on Union Street, the Falcon Inn at Westcott Place, and Eastcott Hill’s Duke of Wellington, which have all become shared houses or flats.

Others, like the Rodbourne Arms on Cheney Manor Road and Walcot’s The Bulldog, have been demolished. The George in Eastcott Road, has been converted into an art studio.

However, some pubs have enjoyed a new lease of life. Among those to have reopened are Eastcott’s Globe Inn and the Groves Company Inn in Fleet Street.

There were 21 areas of the country that have bucked the decline and have more pubs now than they had in 2010. Hackney in east London tops that list. The area, which has a reputation as a hangout for beer-loving youngsters working in booming creative industries, had 55 more bars in 2017 than it did in 2010.

Richard James, secretary of the Swindon and North Wiltshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, admitted that some closures may be inevitable.

He told the Swindon Advertiser: “CAMRA policy is that all pub closures are bad news and reduce choice for local people. But I think you’ve got to be realistic. If you are in a town where there are a lot of pubs it’s not going to have the same impact as in a village, where there might only be one pub and people rely on that amenity. A town centre is a little bit more complex. You’ve got to accept drinking patterns do change and the costs of running a business are quite high.”

Mr James said tastes were changing, with new Swindon bars like The Hop aimed at a growing number of fans of quirky, independent breweries.

What was important was being served in a pub environment, he said. “You can bottle real ales, but what people expect from an ale is a beer poured by a hand-pump. You can only get that in a pub. You can’t recreate that at home.”

Ms Simmonds of the BBPA said that many now offered much more than just a drink: “Pubs have responded to changing drinking habits with a more diverse offering, such as coffee, live music, wifi, creating experiences and food.”

George Arkell of Arkell's Brewery, which owns 20 pubs in the Swindon area, said: "We are excited about the future of our industry and this is reflected in the investment we are making in our pubs. Most recently we have refurbished Rudi’s in the centre of Swindon and we are looking forward to building a new pub in the Tadpole Garden Village in North Swindon.

"The pub industry has changed hugely over recent years, and although it is still challenging, customers continuing to enjoy our beer, and still want to use their local pub."

The pub industry has launched campaign Long Live the Local, calling on the government to cut the beer duty at November’s Budget. The duty is currently set at the equivalent of 43 pence a pint in normal-strength beer.But the government said £3bn had been saved since 2013 from changes to the duty on alcohol, cider, wines and spirits. Nine in every 10 pubs were able to claim business rate relief, saving them up to £1,000 a year.