Wycombe has lost a staggering 25 pubs in just eight years, new figures have revealed. 

Across the district, 18 per cent of pubs and bars have closed their doors for good. 

The figures from the Office for National Statistics show in 2010 there were 140 pubs and bars but by 2017 that had fallen to 115.

In April this year, residents complained High Wycombe is becoming a "ghost town" because it has lost so many of its pubs. 

Just last month, The Junction Pub and Kitchen, on the corner of London Road and Cock Lane, shut down. 

Before this, the likes of The Beaconsfield Arms and the Half Moon also disappeared. 

The Beaconsfield Arms in Hughenden Road shut its doors in April despite tireless work by campaigners to save it.

In the South Bucks district, five pubs have been lost in the same period, while in Chiltern, 10 have disappeared since 2010. 

Pubs have been pointing the finger of blame at the taxman for their troubles, complaining about the duty on beer, VAT levels and the cost of business rates.

Britain’s Beer Alliance, a group of organisations in the pub and brewing sector, has started a campaign called Long Live the Local with a petition and calls for people to write to their MP to have beer duty reduced.

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “Seven in ten alcoholic drinks sold in a pub are beer, so cutting beer duty is the most direct way of helping pubs. This is why we are backing the campaign to cut beer tax.”