PUBS and restaurants will close this winter after the government added to their problems by scrapping plans to freeze alcohol duty, it is claimed.

The freeze was part of the government’s mini-budget in September but has been scrapped as one of a raft of U-turns after chaos in the markets.

Kris Gumbrell, Bournemouth-based chief executive of the Brewhouse & Kitchen chain, said: “It’s very disappointing. Pub and brewery closures are accelerating.

“The support was important for the trade in one sense but in light of the costs hitting hospitality, it was a small, but still important help.”

He pointed out that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had pledged to look at reform of business rates, which Mr Gumbrell said could make things “much fairer” for the industry.

“Pubs and restaurants will close this winter,” he said.

Phil Hoyle, landlord of the London tavern in Poulner, Ringwood, said: “The cancellation of proposed increases to the duty rates for beer, cider, wine and spirits was the one thing from Kwasi Kwarteng’s budget that might have encouraged customers.

“Now that has been reversed, pubs and all hospitality businesses face an even harder winter.

“Not only will prices rise, but there is still a cost-of-living crisis and mortgage rates are going up.

“The first thing people cut when things get tight is going out and pubs will suffer. Pubs are not just businesses, they are central to the communities they serve.

“We raise money for charity, help out local people and support each other when we can.

“If people stop coming to the pub it’s not just a business that will be harmed, but the whole community.”

Alcohol duty is now expected to rise in line with the Retail Price Index measure of inflation, which stood at 12.3 per cent in August. The move is expected to save the government around £600million a year.

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, has called the U-turn a “huge blow” to brewers and pubs.

New chancellor Jeremy Hunt told MPs when he announced the U-turns: “We will conclude the decisions on what we are going to do in terms of excise duty reform generally as quickly as we can, but for now I am afraid the difficult decision that I have announced today stands and we are not going to be able to proceed with the freeze from next February.”