LEMBIT ÖPIK PULLS THE PINTS AT THE COURTHOUSE PUB IN PROUD OF PUBS WEEK 2008

1.34.44pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 18th Jul 2008

The date: Friday 18th July 2008; The time: 8:30pm; The place: Courthouse Pub, Churchstoke

Today Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson and MP for Montgomeryshire, be dropping in at the Courthouse Pub in Churchstoke as publicans across the country celebrate the second Proud of Pubs Week.

And the public are being urged to join them as the fightback to keep the great British pub alive begins. Lembit Öpik is one of more than 100 MPs visiting pubs during the national celebration of pubs, organised by The Publican magazine, which runs from July 13 to 20.

The MP will be seeing for himself the positive contribution that the Courthouse pub makes in its community, as well as discussing issues with licensee Mrs Farley as pubs face up to an unprecedented series of challenges in 2008, ranging from spiralling beer prices to the aftermath of the smoking ban.

Recent research revealed more than half of publicans (52 per cent) have seen sales drop in the year following the smoking ban - although most publicans blame the credit crunch for the drop, rather than the ban.

Daniel Pearce, managing editor of The Publican, said:

"As pubs face up to unprecedented challenges in 2008, Proud of Pubs Week is the ideal time to drop into your local and give it a try."

Commenting, Lembit said:

"You don't have to be a heavy drinker to value the social benefit of Britain's pubs. They're a vital component of our lifestyle and culture and without them this country would be a much worse place.

"That's why I'm proud to support the Proud of Pubs campaign. And so Cheers to our local pubs and Cheers to this campaign!"

Ends/diwedd

Notes to editor:

For further details on Proud of Pubs week, contact Daniel Pearce at the Publican on 020 7955 3710 or 07941 257842

*For more on the campaign visit www.thepublican.com/proudofpubs

• The survey of 1,500 licensees was carried out for The Publican by drinks industry research house CGA Strategy in June 2008

• The Publican magazine, published by CMPI, is distributed weekly to 32,000 licensees, while the website www.thepublican.com attracts more than 50,000 unique users every month

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