A PUB in Dummer is turning off its lights to highlight the energy crisis in the hospitality industry.

The Queen Inn has started running “dine in the dark” evenings every Thursday to draw attention to the rising energy costs that many independent pubs are facing, with the pub turning off its lights and instead serving meals and drinks by candlelight.

Landlord Liz Nelson explained: “We’re not the only pub that is doing this, there are different pubs across the country, so I can’t lay claim for it.

“But we just thought that it’s something where you can perhaps highlight to the customer and get a word out there about the impact it is having.

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“Because you’ve got pubs that used to pay £1,000 a week on utilities are now paying £4,000 and it’s just putting them out of business left, right and centre.”

Liz said the big energy companies should be investigated as she thinks "they are profiting from the cost-of-living crisis".

She also called on the government to give more support to small pubs, including taking measures such as cutting VAT in the sector.

Liz said: “Don’t get me wrong, they have done something with the rates for next year.

“What we get this year is a 50 per cent discount on the rates, and next year that will go up to 75 per cent.

“But from my perspective that’s £300 a month; that’s not really going to fix the problem.”

Despite this, Liz wanted to reassure Queen Inn regulars that the pub will not be going anywhere anytime soon.

She said: “I don’t want anyone to think we’re in trouble, we’re not.

“We’re highlighting a plight that is actually impacting other pubs more than it is us.

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“We are in survival mode, we’re in a situation where all we are trying to do is break even, we’re not trying to make a profit, we’re just trying to break even and get ourselves through to next year.

“Last week we had the second best week we had the whole year, so we’re doing okay, but it only takes one week to turn that.”

While Liz was only planning to hold the Dine in the Dark events during November, the positive response from customers means that the pub might continue to host them in the future.