LAST ORDERS? PINTS EDGE TOWARDS £9 AS PUB CHARGES £8.80 FOR LAGER

The price of a pint in London is hurtling towards the £9 mark, with one historic riverside boozer charging £8.80 as punters fear more 'stealth' hikes ahead.

The Victoria-era Trafalgar Tavern which sits on the Thames in Greenwich, south London, was highlighted as one of many pubs across the capital charging much more than the UK average of £4.70.

And the Dublin Castle in Camden, north London, which features prominently in the new Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black, has prompted a fevered debate about just how much nights out in the capital can now cost.

A devoted pubs fan shared on X, formerly Twitter, how he loved the pub's music selection but was taken aback when charged £7.80 for a pint of Cruzcampo lager.

Many more have now shared their outrage at prices in venues across London, which many now costing at the very least £7 - compared to the national average £4.70.

Industry chiefs say pubs fearful for their own futures are under mounting pressures such as soaring rising energy bills, competition from supermarkets and still playing catch-up with rents after Covid-19 lockdown-inflicted closures.

Office for National Statistics figures showed the nationwide average for a pint of lager leapt by 10.8 per cent in the 12 months to last December - from £4.24 to £4.70. 

Draught bitter was up by 9.1 per cent, hitting £3.93 rather than the previous £3.60 - while experts have warned pints in London could even rise to £14 next year.

But Londoners are finding themselves paying far more, with punters relating tales of being charged as much as £8.50 per pint at the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich, south-east London.

That Grade II-listed riverside pub beside the Thames actually displays on its website prices peaking at £8.80 for a draught pint of Brixton Coldharbour Lager.

One response on social media to their prices said: 'You're paying for the riverside view - should be £2 off to drink inside.'

Another commenter wrote: 'I paid £7.50 for a Guinness there a couple of months ago. Still the most I’ve paid for a pint.'

MailOnline recently told how 1,110 bars and clubs across London have shut since Covid and many more owners say they are hampered by curtailed drinking hours, threats from housing developers and rising costs.

A new debate about prices has been prompted by a post about the Dublin Castle going viral on X, with users @ChelseaDan5 telling his 9,300 followers about his pint of Heineken-owned Cruzcampo lager.

He wrote: 'Pint in Camden Town NW1 is now more expensive than Belgravia, Chelsea and Mayfair!

'I'd like to praise the Dublin Castle for being one of the remaining live music pubs in my hometown but £7.80 for a Cruz Campo in the right glass - at least the music's decent.'

He accompanied it with footage of the pint backed by the pub soundtrack of Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve.

The hosted a gig by Amy Winehouse in 2007 and was used in the new film about starring Marisa Abela, who was seen filming outside the Dublin Castle last year alongside Jack O'Connell who played Amy's husband Blake Fielder-Civil. 

Others who have performed there include the Arctic Monkeys, Blur and the Killers. 

Responses included remarks such as 'That's crazy money even for Camden', 'It is pricey' and 'Madness' - a nod to Camden band Madness who often played there in the 1970s and whose singer Suggs unveiled a heritage plaque at the pub in 2017.

Another punter wondered: 'How long before it's ten quid for a pint?' 

The original commenter then canvassed other pubgoers' experiences, writing: 'In relation to my previous post I'm interested to know the most money any of you have paid for a pint in a boozer, name of pub and for what pint?'

Users replied with posts such as '£8.50 for a pint of Guinness in the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich mate', 'About £8 at the Anchor London Bridge by the river' and 'Currently on £7.10 for a Staropramen in one of my locals'.

Also suggested were an £8.10 Madri in Leicester Square's Slug and Lettuce in central London, a Peroni costing £7.35 in Wimbledon's Prince of Wales in south-west London and the same price for a pint at the Starting Gate in Wood Green, north London.

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, warned that many more pubs could be forced to 'hand back their keys' and close down due to the rising costs they are having to bear and reluctantly pass on in price rises.

He told MailOnline: 'London has the problem of more expensive rents and operating costs.

'I think the industry has held off for a long time but they've got to a point where they've had to pass some of those costs on.

'It's all down to inflationary pressure - the ability to sustain a 30 to 40 per cent operating cost increase will at some point have an impact on trade.

'Inflation might have come down but we're not seeing any effect at the coalface on operating costs such as rents or energy prices.'

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, today told MailOnline the soaring prices were a pointer to multiple pressures on pubs themselves - and called for ministers to offer extra help.

She said: 'The upswing in beer costs demonstrates the growing tax burden being shouldered by the sector, which has left businesses with no choice but to pass costs on to the consumer.

'It’s crucial that the Government takes steps to help mitigate these cost rises and enable longer-term growth for the industry which can be achieved through fixing business rates, easing employment costs and reducing VAT for hospitality.'

Pub chain Wetherspoon, often regarded as one of the cheaper options for punters, last year increased its food and drink prices by 7.5 per cent at a time when inflation was nearing 11 per cent.

The firm's chairman Tim Martin said supermarkets had taken up to half the industry's trade as customers looked to cut back on costs.

He told of pubs including his being vulnerable to competition from stores which do not pay VAT on food sales while bars and restaurants pay 20 per cent.

And Alan Mahon, founder and CEO of beer brand Brewgooder, has said rising production costs driven by the conflict in Ukraine and soaring inflation created a 'perfect storm' for the industry.

Inflation has since fallen to 3.2 per cent in the year to March, down from 3.4 per cent the previous year.

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2024-04-25T12:24:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd