'It's Armageddon': Pub landlady says rising costs and drop in footfall are threatening livelihood
ITV News Meridian's Harry Acton reports
A landlady at a pub in Hampshire says she is facing "Armageddon" because rising costs and a drop in footfall are putting her livelihood at risk.
Annmarie McCarthy has been running The Swan Inn in Barton Stacey for several years but says it has become a "nightmare" following the pandemic.
The former coaching house has stood in the village for more than three centuries.
However, like many pubs across the country, its future is uncertain with Ms McCarthy no longer able to open everyday because of rising bills and a drop in trade.
She's been told her costs will rise by £12,000 this year alone which is money she doesn't have.
"It's Armageddon to me, but I understand I really understand, that people have got a finite amount of money", she explained.
"So have I. They don't seem to think that because you're a pub - it is a business - but I haven't got any money either.
"I can't see it getting any better. Come April it is just going to be an absolute nightmare."
Across the country more than 400 pubs closed last year with more expected to fold in 2025.
At the Frog and Frigate in Southampton owners have cut down the opening hours to just two evenings a week to keep the business going.
Landlord, Derek Gardener, said: "There's no way that we could operate 7 days a week, there is just no way.
"If we tried to open for 7 days a week, the utility prices, the wages, it would break us.
"We just wouldn't be able to do it. The fact that we only do open on those two nights a week - it's targeted - and people know where we are."
The government insists it is taking action to support pubs and the wider hospitality industry.
A new permanent lower business rate for pubs is set to be introduced next year which the government says will provide support to more than 250,000 venues.
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