New figures show that total beer sales in the UK declined by 8.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, which may concern pub insurance holders.

In addition, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) revealed that pub insurance holders and restaurants saw beer sales fall by 6.3 per cent when compared to the same period in 2008.

The group's UK Quarterly Beer Barometer also showed that retail insurance holders such as supermarkets and off-licences experienced an 11 per cent decrease in beer sales.

Overall, the figures revealed that 1.7 million fewer pints were consumed each day in the first three months of the year.

David Long, chief executive of the BBPA, commented: "Falling beer sales means more publicans struggling to keep their pub doors open. Closing pubs means tens of thousands of job losses and the heart taken out of many communities."

In May, the Federation of Small Businesses said that pub insurance customers should be allowed to break their ties with the organisations, or pubcos, which own them.

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