MORE than a third of Bracknell's pubs have closed over the last seven years, depressing new figures have revealed.

Between 2010 and 2017, 15 pubs have closed their doors for good, an average of just over two per year.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in 2010 there were 45 pubs and bars in Bracknell Forest, but by 2017 that number had fallen to 30.

The closures reflect an ongoing trend across the UK, with a total of 5,745 pubs calling last orders across the UK since 2010.

Landlords and campaigners have been blaming beer duty, VAT levels and the cost of business rates for the worrying number of closures.

Britain's Beer Alliance, a group of organisations in the pub and brewing sector, has started a campaign called Long Live the Local with a petition and calls for people to write to their MP to have beer duty reduced.

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 ten alcoholic drinks sold in a pub are beer, so cutting beer duty is the most direct way of helping pubs. This is why we are backing the Long Live the Local campaign to cut beer tax."