Pubs under pressure asrates go up

Conservative housing spokesman Grant Shapps said a revaluation of business rates had produced rises of up to 69 per cent in the rateable value of pubs, with historic coaching inns hardest hit.

And he complained that valuers had been asked to record features such as Sky Sports screens, pool tables, children’s play areas, beer gardens and darts boards when assessing the rateable value of licensed premises.

Mr Shapps said yesterday that this could place a greater burden on traditional pubs than on the youth-oriented city centre establishments often associated with binge drinking.

Some 3,960 local pubs have closed in England under the Labour administration due to a combination of “unfair” competition from supermarkets, above-inflation rises in drink duties and the introduction of the smoking ban, he said.

Visiting the Ivy Leaf in Dartford, Kent, which will see its business rates bill rise by 417 a year in April, Mr Shapps said: “Gordon Brown has pushed local community pubs to the wall.”