PUB owners in Whitchurch are winning businesses could collapse due to rising energy prices and say there has been little government support.

Energy bills are set to rise by 80 percent for households across the UK but regulated price caps do not apply to businesses.

Jack Nash's parents have owned the Horse and Jockey in Grindley Brook for 14 years and Jack said the electricity bill had 'quadrupled basically.'

He added: "We actually had the bad news through this morning about it.

"Their electricity bill has not just tripled, it has gone up by, well quadrupled basically per month.

"If it carries on, we are going to see so many businesses collapse and people lose jobs."

Jack supports dropping VAT and said dramatically increasing the price for food would mean the pub would have no customers.

He explained: "It is not fair on us either to have to turn around to the customer and say they are paying £35 for a beef burger.

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"Because that's what it would come to and then you are never going to have any customers.

"The only way it will resolve itself is by VAT dropping, simple as that, from 20 percent to five percent.

"Then we have the money to pay staff and have the money to keep the prices low for burgers and we can afford to pay electricity bills.

"These electricity bills are just ripping people off."

Jean Wollaston manages The Cock and Greyhound with her husband and she said they will be using the wood burner more this winter to save on heating costs.

She added: "We have got a woodburner which we are basically going to use a lot more than what we used to.

"So that will be on all the time in order to save the heating costs but obviously we have still got to make sure the kitchen is running.

"It has got to be on all day, you cannot switch the cooker off.

"That is going to hit us quite hard."