DORSET'S £213 million pub industry could take a hit if beer duty is raised at the end of the month, a campaign group claims.

Tax on beer is expected to be raised by 3.4 per cent in the chancellor's Autumn budget.

Britain’s Beer Alliance, an umbrella organisation for major brewers and pub companies, says current closure rates could see one in ten pubs nationwide shut up shop within five years.

Director David Cunningham said: “Pubs are the heart and soul of our culture and communities, they support many jobs, contribute significantly to the economy and are dear to people’s hearts right across the country.

“Pubs already face a range of tax pressures and if the chancellor raises beer duty in line with retail price index inflation as planned on October 29, pubs will feel the pinch even more.

"Seven in every 10 alcoholic drinks sold in a pub is beer, so it's easy to see how a small tax increase adds up over a year.

"Based on current closure rates, we estimate that within five years more than one in 10 pubs in the UK will have closed for good, costing thousands of jobs.

"This will have a devastating effect on communities up and down the UK."

New analysis from Oxford Economics suggests the sector in Dorset contributes some £213m to the local and national economy per year.

For example, Bournemouth’s 65 pubs and bars employ 1,558 people directly, paying them £16 million in wages. They also support another 517 jobs and £9.6 million in wages indirectly, either through related jobs, like those in the supply chain, or through the money spent by people working in the pub industry.

In total, through salaries and spending power, the area’s pubs contribute £46 million to the local and national economy, the analysis shows.