'Figures show public need to support their local pubs'

New figures released this week show the number of pubs and bars in Preston has fallen since last year.

- 

The data from the Office for National Statistics reveals there were some 85 open in 2024 - down from 95 the year before, but an increase from 80 in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figures were released to coincide with last Friday's National Beer Garden Day, and hospitality chiefs said they demonstrated how much the nation's boozers needed the public's support to survive.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said the declining number of pubs and bars across the UK shows the “extreme challenges” faced by licensed premises, including “severe cost pressures”.