AN MP’s efforts to give pubs a “leg up” is being supported by Little Lever’s Jolly Carter.

Landlord and landlady, Steven Bryan and Helen Duffy are pleased to hear their MP Yasmin Qureshi is fighting the corner of local pubs and lobbying the government to reduce beer duty.

Mr Bryan and his partner Mrs Duffy have been running the Jolly Carter in Church Street for almost two years and admit beer duty and business rates make things difficult for pubs who have mounting overheads with services like Sky and BT Sports expected by their punters.

Mr Bryan said: “The margins are so tight, any help would be massive, I’m sure for everyone not just ourselves. The business rates are £1,200 a month which is a massive amount really.

“I think everyone thinks we have a busy pub and you’re making a lot of money but it’s not. Every margin is tiny.”

Mr Bryan has worked in pubs for decades but this is the first time he has run his own pub and seen the reality of the effect of taxes like beer duty and business rates on a pub, while cheaper alcohol is available in supermarkets and corner shops.

It is this playing field that Ms Qureshi is hoping to level. She said: “Public houses need a leg up and help to stay in towns. It’s cheaper to buy drinks in supermarkets and sometimes people have less money, the temptation is to go there, get your lager there.”

The Labour MP for Bolton South East pointed out that supermarkets do not have the overheads that pubs have and so are able to provide alcohol much cheaper.

Ms Qureshi, herself tee-total, is a firm believer in the place of pubs in the community. She said: “Pubs in areas like this are part of the community, the people who come here will live round here. It’s an opportunity for people to come and talk to each other.”

Ms Qureshi and Mrs Duffy both pointed out that pubs provide an important place for people to socialise safely and can prevent people from becoming isolated and drinking at home alone in front of their TV or smartphone.

Mrs Duffy said: “We get women coming in as well on their own because they know it’s friendly and safe. We get a lot of people coming in on their own.”

Beer duty is charged on any product labelled as a beer with an alcohol content over 1.2 per cent and is dependent on the strength of the beer. The government says that about 54p of the price of a 5.0 per cent pint would be beer duty.

Ms Qureshi has written to Greg Clark the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy asking for him to provide a support package for pubs, including a reduction in the beer duty which she argues is one of the highest in the EU and on business rates.

Since 2016 there has been a freeze on beer duty and from 2017 some pubs have been able to secure a £1,000 discount on their business rates however it is not certain the government will continue these in the future.

Ms Qureshi wishes to see business rates calculated annually to reflect the economic climate pubs are running in.

This week the Campaign for Real Ale published figures showing pubs are still closing rapidly across the country with the north west seeing the most closures. According to CAMRA 476 pubs closed in the first six months of the year.

CAMRA attributes the decline to high business rates, beer duty and VAT.

Ms Qureshi has said she will continue to lobby the government ahead of the 2018 Budget in the hopes the government will take more action to aid pubs.