Twenty pubs a month are closing down, according to research by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

Camra fears many are closing because landlords try to make a profit from selling their properties as private homes.

The survey suggests other pubs, particularly in rural areas, are shutting because they fail to market themselves efficiently.

Camra has come up with two schemes which it hopes will stem the closures and is calling on the government to increase rate relief for local pubs.

'Depressing'

Camra's head of campaigns, Mike Benner, said: "We suspected the situation was gloomy, but we had no idea it was this bad.

"What's most depressing is that the situation is almost certainly much worse than even Camra dare admit."

The organisation has developed what it calls a public house viability test.

This offers local authority planning departments advice on judging the economic viability of a pub if there has been an application for change of use to a private house.

Mr Benner said: "It's all too easy for unscrupulous pub owners to run down a business, de-license the pub and sell it off for a fat profit as a private house.

"This is an increasingly common practice, particularly in pretty rural areas.

"We are not trying to keep truly unviable pubs open. Rather we want to put an end to the practice of letting pubs which could be viable in the right hands be lost to the community forever because of a lack of procedures."

Country pubs

Camra is also offering advice to landlords of country pubs with the launch of a new booklet offering ideas for rural pubs, produced in association with the Countryside Agency.

The booklet, Rural Pubs: A Route to Success, includes sections on beer choice and quality, tourism and in-house brewing.

Tony Dadoun, of the Countryside Agency, said: "The public house is a focal point of the rural community and if it is to continue to provide what the customer wants, services must change to keep up with the demands of modern consumers.

"The booklet suggests ways this change might come about without losing the traditional appeal and essential qualities the pub has to offer."