Pubs becoming an endangered British species

While Farmers Gastropub has found accolades and a new south-side Springfield home on this side of the pond, once-popular local pubs are closing in Britain at an alarming rate to some.

Roughly one out of every five pubs has shut down the last two decades, with operators citing changing economics and shifting tastes, according to a New York Times report. Since the 2008 financial crisis, 7,000 neighborhood pubs such as The Old White Bear and The Nags Head have served their last fish and chips and pint of beer. The reasons: the British are drinking almost a quarter less beer than a decade ago and “pubcos” that own half the country’s pub properties have leverage over rental rates and the beer brands sold.

Now, communities are moving to save the gathering places through legislation that allows people to petition to designate a pub an “asset of community value.” Some 300 pubs have filed for the designation.

Read more from the New York Times.