Last updated 15:55, Wednesday, 14 May 2008

AT LEAST 80 pubs are on the market in Cumbria in a huge £20 million sell-off.

Dozens are up for lease or sale as experts and landlords warn rising overheads, the smoking ban, the cost of living and the price of a pint are driving both drinkers and bar bosses away.

In Whitehaven the Ship Inn is on the market and The Strand has never re opened its doors following closure over a year ago.

Leases – ranging from deals costing hundreds of thousands of pounds to as low as only £1 – are up for grabs at places including Carlisle, Brampton, Penrith and Whitehaven.

An investigation found 81 pubs advertised on one property website alone, with the total price of leases and properties reaching more than £19.1 million.

In Carlisle, at least 12 bars display “For Lease” signs outside the premises.

Pub and property experts name the rent charged by the large companies who now own many pubs – as opposed to the old system of being linked to a brewery – as being a key factor in the number now on the market.

Trade magazine The Publican says these companies, known as pubcos, own 24,000 British pubs – about 37 per cent of the national market.

The landlords in their bars have no choice but to buy their beer from the pubco even though they can buy the same drink cheaper elsewhere.

Carlisle-based estate agent John Taylor said the rate of decline in the pub industry had accelerated in the past five years.

Peter Hayward, of Hayward Tod estate agents, said he believed many large pub companies were now run along the lines of property firms.

He said there had been a significant increase in the number of pubs for sale and lease in the past few years.

Philip Tuer, pub liaison officer for the Solway branch of Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “The biggest problem we’ve come across is the rents being charged.

“Pubs in Carlisle have to pay over £1,000 a week in rent before they even open the door.

“The smoking ban is now also starting to bite big style.

A spokeswoman for Punch Taverns, which owns a string of bars across Cumbria, said: “It is not in our interest to see pubs closed.

“Our main priority is always to get them up and trading as soon as possible.”

She stressed that rents were carefully calculated with tenants made aware of their exact detail before signing any agreements.

“It is a transparent process,” the spokeswoman said. “We work closely with our licensees.”

Increasing Government red tape and duty charges have also been criticised by the pub trade. Punch added: “Sixty per cent of people now drink at home, that has had an impact on the pub trade.

“What we are trying to do is promote the great things about the British pub.

“We are trying to promote the pub as the focal point of the community. There are unique things you can get at the pub that you cannot get at home.”

A spokeswoman for Enterprise Inns, which also has an interest in a string of pubs in the county, said that each pub was treated individually with local factors taken into consideration to keep them in business.

Looking to the future, Mr Tuer said pubs in tourist hot spots, those renowned for their food and bars with a stake in their community would be the ones most likely to thrive.