Tim Farron to campaign to protect local pubs at the Grasmere Guzzler festival

The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale will be attending the annual Grasmere Guzzler festival this Saturday afternoon.

As well as sampling a range of local beers and meeting constituents, Tim will also be there to campaign to protect beer and South Cumbria's pubs.

The pub industry is currently worth around £30million to the local economy with around 3,000 jobs dependent on it thriving.

Tim said: "Pubs are at the heart of so many of our communities, particularly in rural areas like Grasmere. It's vital that we do all we can to try and halt this alarming trend of pubs calling time for good.

"I'm regularly contacted by constituents who are really worried about the current situation. I have written to the Chancellor asking the Government to commit to not increasing beer duty for the life of this Parliament, and to give business rate relief for pubs in more remote areas to encourage landlords to have confidence in the medium term".