THE LANDLORDS of a popular pub have slammed the government for "ignoring the cost of living crisis" after being forced to raise prices.
The Alma Tavern, on Droitwich Road, which was named the Worcester News Pub Of The Year 2022, released a long statement addressing the government for a lack of support for the industry.
Landlords Jon Dean and Will Bradley said: "The last three years have been a tough one for our industry like many others, seeing an alarming rate of closures in Worcester and around the country, these are people whose blood, sweat and tears have helped in building great businesses but then see them close due to rising costs.
"The government is to blame for simply ignoring the current cost of living crisis, ridiculous process rises and simply ignoring the British people.
"The inevitable means the cost of a pint goes up and the cost of a plate of food will increase to meet these rises."
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The landlords said the pub has not seen a prices increase on its menu for the last 18 months.
Mr Dean said: "We have not had a price increase on our menu for 18 months.
"Our energy bills have risen from £1,200 a month to £3,500 a month.
"We have been so lucky with our amazing customers over the last four years and as a community pub, our commitment is to serve and grow our community and we have done a lot of work behind the scenes to try and make savings where we can.
"Some costs we have no control over and we simply have to act. We hope these rises won't be too high and we will continue to try and cut costs where we can.
"You can help by visiting The Alma for a drink or a meal, sharing our posts and tagging people to help us grow and supporting our events like music and festivals."
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Robin Walker, MP for Worcester, said he understands the difficult situation pubs are in but says criticising the government "is not fair".
He said: "I have always campaigned to support pubs and there have been huge areas of support for businesses on energy.
"I recognise that it is a very challenging time, but I do not think it is really fair to criticise the government.
The furlough scheme and the energy scheme for businesses have been massive interventions by the government that we have nerve seen before.
"I will, however, certainly keep campaigning for our local businesses."
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