SUPERMARKET offers and the recession are mainly to blame for a sizeable drop in beer sales, say Colchester’s licensees.

British Beer and Pub Association figures show 1.7 million fewer pints were drunk every day in the first three months of 2009, compared with the same period last year.

Sales in pubs, bars, restaurants, supermarkets and off-licences were all down and the number of pubs closing their doors for good has also continued to increase.

Ray Martin, manager of the Wig and Pen, in Colchester High Street, said the current economic climate was a major factor.

“The downturn in the economy has definitely affected us,” he said. “I think it is more of a factor now than the tax or the smoking ban. The ban has been in for two years and people now just accept it.

“Our pattern of trading has changed. Friday nights have seen a complete change-around, and I think it is down to the recession.

“People are deciding not to go out on a Thursday and Friday, but, instead, to save and have a big night out on Saturday.

“We are definitely feeling a little bit of a downturn, but certainly not a massive one.”

He added: “We will probably feel it most in June or July, when the football season ends.”

David Jones, at the Hare and Hounds, in Heath Road, agreed: “It is a combination of everything; the recession, the smoking ban, the tax on beer and the supermarkets. It is hitting everyone, it is just one of those things.”

British Beer and Pub Association chief executive David Long said: “Falling beer sales mean more publicans struggling to keep their doors open, which means tens of thousands of job losses and the heart being taken out of many communities.

“With the Budget last week, Government tax policy continues to make this situation worse.”