Pubs are closing down at a rate of one every 12 hours, new figures show.

The Campaign for Real Ale say that 378 pubs shut down permanently between July and December last year in England, Scotland and Wales, representing more than 14 closures a week.

Since the start of last year, some 854 have shut across Great Britain, but the decline has slowed since 980 closures in 2017.

There are now 40,683 pubs in England, 2,901 in Wales and 3,612 in Scotland, according to the figures.

Jackie Parker, CAMRA's National Chairman said: "Pubs are a very important part of our national culture and are valuable community assets which help to combat loneliness and social isolation. It's great we have seen a drop in the number of pubs closing and shows that our campaign to get planning protection for pubs was worth it.