Village life in Britain is "dying out" because rural pubs are closing at a record rate, a report from the National Housing Federation has said.
The Federation said pubs were one of the "cornerstones of traditional village life".
The report's co-authors, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), said 893 pubs closed last year following the recession and increased taxes.
The government said it would give rural communities powers to save local pubs.
The federation, which represents England's housing associations, said key services were disappearing "at an alarming rate" and that affordable local housing was the key to saving traditional village life.
It also said that about 400 village shops closed in 2008, while in England, between 1997 and 2008, rural schools shut down at the rate of one a month.
And it said the closures reflected a declining demand for services in villages where local families had been priced out of the area by wealthy commuters, pensioners and second-home owners.
Another factor was that there were too few new homes, it added.
3 Dec 2010
BBC News - British village life 'dying out' after pub closures
via bbc.co.uk
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