VILLAGE and country pubs in the Penistone district are being warned they must offer more community services or face going out of business.
Industry officials say it is the only way to combat rising prices which are killing off the rural pub trade. The increasing cost of a pint has prompted drinkers to abandon the local watering hole and instead buy beer from ‘extra value’ supermarkets or town centre bars offering two-for-one deals and happy hours.
Meanwhile land prices have skyrocketed to the extent that a pub’s business is worth less than half the plot it occupies, making them vulnerable to take-overs from housing developers.
The Rock Inn in Green Moor is the latest pub to have fallen foul of the trend in the Penistone area. A planning application was submitted last month to demolish it and build 12 houses on the site.
Nigel Croft, secretary for CAMRA in Barnsley, has warned it will not be the last if other rural pubs do not begin to offer a wider range of services to balance the books.
