Halton loses nearly half its pubs in 15 years, ranking fourth worst in Britain
HALTON has lost nearly half of its pubs over the past 15 years, making it one of the worst-affected areas in Britain for pub closures, a new study has found.
By Runcorn & Widnes World
Halton has lost nearly half of its pubs and bars since 2010, ranking fourth worst among Britain’s council areas, according to a new study.
Research by The Punters Page, using Office for National Statistics data, found that the number of pubs and bars in Halton fell from 80 in 2010 to 45 in 2025.
That represents a decline of 43.8 per cent, placing Halton fourth among 318 council areas assessed. It was also the worst-performing council area in the North West.
Only East Ayrshire and South Holland, both of which recorded a 50 per cent fall, and South Ayrshire, where numbers dropped by 44.4 per cent, experienced larger declines.
The figures cover the number of pubs and bars recorded in each council area. They do not identify individual venues that have closed.
Across the North West, pub and bar numbers fell by 12.3 per cent, from 5,205 in 2010 to 4,565 in 2025.
The study found that Britain lost around 6,670 pubs and bars over the same period, a national decline of 15.3 per cent.
Only 26 of the 318 council areas included in the analysis recorded an increase in pub numbers between 2010 and 2025.