Bootleggers cruising the town's estates have hit trade in Southend's pubs over the festive period, a leading landlord revealed today.

Fred Spring believes drinkers are buying cheap booze which has been smuggled into the country - and jeopardising the livelihoods of those who work in the town's pubs.

Mr Spring, former head of the Southend and Rochford Licensed Victuallers Association, said: "I have heard stories of vans going round the estates selling bootleg liquor at very cheap prices.

"It's very hard to tell exactly the scale of the situation as I have not been aware of many prosecutions in the area.

"Bootlegging is pretty rampant in the south east because it is so quick and cheap to go to Calais. In France the duty on a pint of beer is four pence. Here it is 32 pence, and will rise to 33 pence on January 1.

"The only way to stop bootlegging is to cut duty and there is no way the Chancellor will do that so the problem will only increase."

Mr Spring, landlord of The Cricketers in London Road, Westcliff, said his and many colleagues' pubs have seen a sharp downturn in beer sales due to more people buying cheap alcohol and staying at home.

He said: "Those pubs which rely solely on liquor sales are having serious problems. We are surviving, like many others, by providing good, cheap food. A pub has to do that these days to get by. Sales of meals are rising."

Mr Spring's comments came as a survey revealed Chelmsford as one of Britain's top blackspots for smuggling.

It is estimated more than 27,000 barrels - nearly eight million pints - of booze arrived illegally in the county town during 1998.

The alcohol was brought into the town in 5,250 vans which has ensured Chelmsford has zoomed up a national chart from number nine last year to fifth place this year.

The figures, released today by the Brewers and Licensed Retailers' Association (BLRA), show London is still the top smuggling city place with 11,680 vans.

It is a crime to sell booze from abroad without paying duty on it.

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