FEARS are being expressed that more pubs and bars could shut their doors as new figures reveal that 10 per cent of those in Test Valley have closed in just eight years.

Rounded figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed of the roughly 100 public houses and bars operating across Test Valley in 2010, 10 had closed between 2010 and 2017.

Of those, five closed for good from 2016 to 2017.

Arguments have ranged over the cause with some claiming a change in drinking culture as people choose to consume drinks at home and so turning their backs on pubs.

Others have blamed the taxman, complaining about the duty on beer, VAT levels and the cost of business rates.

Alex Gillies, landlord of the Station Hotel, in Andover, said that it is a combination of factors, most notably the low cost of alcohol from supermarkets and the hampering of profits by pub chains.

Alex, who has leased the pub for 13 years, said: “It is a mixture of different problems, one of them being the people who do own the pubs like Green King and Enterprise don’t allow for a reasonable profit to be made.

“Also people don’t have the money to spend down the pub when you can get 12 cans of lager in the supermarket for £12.”

He said that the Station Hotel has a number of regulars, but he doubts he will be able to continue running the pub in another year.

John Buckley, a spokesman for the North Hampshire and Upper Test Pubs Group, laid the blame at the door of pub companies.

He said: “With so many pub closures the trade needs to react to changing social needs for better and higher quality service but are too often held back by the owning pubcos who fail to invest while placing ever increasing charges on tenants.

“While there are successes, far too many publicans lose their livelihoods and are being forced into debt. Communities lose the pubs which provide essential social and economic benefits as the pubcos cash in on residential land values.”

Across the UK 5,745 pubs closed between 2010 and 2017.

The ONS rounds the numbers in the dataset to avoid identifying individual pubs.