URBAN areas have suffered worse for pub closures in the past decade, figures suggest.

Bournemouth has lost more than one in five of its pubs since 2010, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

In 2010 there were 90 pubs and bars but by 2017 that had fallen to 70.

Christchurch has also lost 20 per cent of its bars, five have closed since 2010, out of 25 originally.

Poole has lost 10 pubs since 2010, or 14 per cent of an original 70.

Pubs have been pointing the finger of blame at the taxman for their troubles, complaining about the duty on beer, VAT levels and the cost of business rates.

Britain's Beer Alliance, a group of organisations in the pub and brewing sector, has started a campaign called Long Live the Local with a petition and calls for people to write to their MP to have beer duty reduced.

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "We are calling on the Government to cut beer duty in the upcoming November budget.

"Seven in ten alcoholic drinks sold in a pub are beer, so cutting beer duty is the most direct way of helping pubs."

A spokesman for the Treasury said: “Ninety per cent of pubs across the country can benefit from the business rates relief introduced at Budget 2017, which could save them up to £1,000 a year.

“In addition, both businesses and their customers have saved around £3 billion since 2013 thanks to changes to alcohol duty.”

Across the UK 5,745 pubs closed over the period, and there are 54 local authorities where 30 or more shut.

The figures show Purbeck has lost 10 per cent of its pubs since 2010, or five, and North Dorset has also lost five, out of 60. East Dorset has the same number of pubs now as in 2010, 55.

A change in consumer habits, with people drinking at home more often, has been blamed for fewer people visiting pubs.

Tom Stainer of CAMRA, the campaign for real ale, said: "In many areas and villages, they provide the last remaining public meeting space, with meeting halls and post offices already lost.

"They also create jobs and bring money into local areas, which tend to be spent in the local area, as compared to large chain cafes. Many pubs help to support the night time economy in town centres and create safer communities after nightfall."

There are 21 areas of the country that have bucked the decline and have more pubs now than they had in 2010.

Top of the list is East London hipster hangout Hackney, which has a thriving nightlife fuelled, in part, by craft beer. It had 55 more bars in 2017 than it did in 2010.

This is the Echo's list of closed and much-missed Dorset pubs:

BOURNEMOUTH

The Criterion

Daisy O'Briens

The Dolphin

The Fox, Terrace Road

The Gander on the Green

The Grange, Southbourne

The Hare and Hounds

The Horse and Jockey, Redhill

The London Hotel

The Malt & Hops

The Osprey

The Palmerston Arms, Boscombe

The Pig & Whistle, Westbourne

The Poets Corner

The Portman, Boscombe

The Prince of Wales

The Ragged Cat

The Royal Oak, Wimborne Road

The Saxon King

The Seagull

The Smugglers

The Strouden

The White Horse

The Woodman, Branksome

CHRISTCHURCH

The Catherine Wheel

Dukes/The Goose and Timber, Barrack Road

The Eight Bells

The Fairmile

The Fountain

The Golfer's Arms

The New Inn

The New Lodge

The Royalty Inn

POOLE

The Albion, Ringwood Road

The Ansty Arms

The Beehive

The Bell & Crown

The Central Hotel

The Darby's Corner Inn

The Dorset Knob

The Double Six

The Duke of York

The Ferryman

Greenridge, Upton

The Guildhall Tavern

The Jolly Miller

The Oakdale, Canford Heath

Patricks, Ashley Cross

The Port Mahon

The Retreat

The Royal Oak & Gas Tavern

Sandacres Pub

The Sea Witch Hotel

The Shipwrights Arms

The Skittlers

The Swan Inn

The Tatnam

The Waterloo

The White Hart Hotel

WIMBORNE

The Beehive Inn

The Crown & Anchor

The Crown Tap

The Griffin Hotel

The Sir Winston Churchill

The Three Lions

WAREHAM AND SWANAGE

The Lord Nelson

The Purbeck Hotel

The Railway Tavern

EAST DORSET

The Albion

The Coach House Inn, Ferndown

The George

The Greyhound

The Smith Arms, Wimborne

The Struan Country Inn

The Travellers Rest, Three Legged Cross

The Whincroft

NORTH DORSET

The Bugle Horn, Tarrant Gunville

The Coote Arms

The D’Amory Arms

The Greyhound Inn

The Half Moon Inn

The Red Lion

The Rose, Tarrant Hinton

The Star, Sixpenny Handley

The Three Choughs