FOR Derby landlord Michael Vickers, the figures just don't stack up.

At his pub, the Coach and Horses, in Mansfield Road, Chester Green, it costs him £1 to buy in bottles of Stella Artois lager to sell behind his bar.

But when he does his weekly shopping at the local supermarket, he is horrified to see 20 bottles of Stella on sale for just £5, in a promotional deal.

"With crazy prices like that, you simply cannot compete," said Michael.

The 56-year-old father-of-one, who runs the pub with wife Deborah, admits he is making a good living at the moment – but cheap beer in the shops was still causing him dismay.

"The Garden City just around the corner closed down last month and this is just one of the reason that pubs, generally, are feeling the pinch."

According to the British Beer and Pub Association, five pubs are shutting their doors every day in the country.

A total of 1,409 hostelries closed in the UK in 2007 compared with 216 in 2006 and 102 in 2005. This year, the figure is likely to top 2,000.

A study by the Derby branch of the Campaign for Real Ale has revealed that more than 50 pubs have called time since the start of the decade – around 10 per cent of the total in its survey area, which stretches from Melbourne to Ashbourne and Alfreton.

Only last month, as well as the closure of the Garden City, the Blue Dog bar in Sadler Gate closed.

And elsewhere across the city, shutters have boarded up the Greyhound, in Ashbourne Road; the Cock Inn, in Muggington; the Red Lion, in Chellaston; and the Grange, in Pear Tree.

Also possibly set to close is the Blue Boy, in Wiltshire Road, Chaddesden, which was originally heralded as a success story after the pub was given a £366,000 facelift thanks to a Government grant.

The Late Bar, in Ford Street, is currently up for sale and other pubs, such as the Grampian, in Sinfin, and the Swan and Salmon, in Ashbourne Road, are offered to let.

The Campaign for Real Ale claims that hugely discounted alcohol in supermarkets is the reason for the steep decline in the pub trade, with a pricing survey revealing cheap beer selling at less than 60p a pint.

Many publicans agree, adding that the smoking ban, introduced in July 2007, has also hit them hard as drinkers choose to stay away.

Roger Protz, editor of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide, said: "Cheap beer in supermarkets, often sold at less than the price of bottled water, is killing the British pub.

"Over 150 pubs a month are closing and the main reason is simple: People are abandoning their locals because they can buy cheap supermarket beer at a fraction of the price charged by pubs."

His views were echoed by landlords and bar managers across Derby who have said that they are working longer hours – often up to 80 a week – and having to provide more entertainment to keep their customers happy.

Steve Kirk has run the Neptune, in St Peter's Street, for 11 years.

The 47-year-old said: "It is a real battle at the moment, the hardest it has ever been.

"Around 70% of my regulars are smokers and the ban has hit hard.

"I would estimate that I have lost around 10% of my trade since the ban came in.

"Cheap booze in the shops hasn't helped either as people simply stay at home because the prices are so cheap.

"My son Liam is 17 years old and wants to follow me into the pub trade, but I am trying to talk him out of it."

Glyn and Betty Newbold, both 49, have run the Duke of Clarence, in Mansfield Road, for almost four years.

They said that being a traditional local pub with a number of successful darts teams had helped to keep them afloat as other customers have stayed away.

Mr Newbold said: "I was in the supermarket and they were selling three cases of lager for £15.

"That works out at less than 42p for a bottle that I have to sell at more than £2.

"And when the bad weather came after the smoking ban came in last year, custom started to drop off as well.

"The darts teams that we have been running here have helped us immensely and we offer different types of entertainment most nights.

"We are having to diversify to keep going.

"Last week, our darts team played a match against a pub team in another part of Derby and were there from around 8.30pm until 11pm.

"They said that, apart from them, there were only four other people there all night.

"We have got to cover all the bases.

"Publicans cannot open the doors and just wait for the people to come in from outside.

"If it has got to that stage for some, then they may as well just throw in the towel," he added.

The British Beer and Pub Association, which commissioned the study, is the UK's leading organisation representing the brewing and pub sector.

Its members account for 98% of the beer brewed in the UK and own nearly two thirds of Britain's 57,000 pubs.

Their latest figures show that sales of beer are now at their lowest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

And it claims that possible further tax increases from the Government could lead to the closure of many more pubs.

Rob Hayward, chief executive of the association, said: "Thousands of much-loved pubs are under threat.

"They are at the heart of every community and a major tourist draw for Britain and many more are facing closure."

CAMRA claims that as a result of a 10% beer tax increase in this year's budget, prices in pubs have increased by 4.4% in the last year and the average price of a pint of lager in a pub is now £2.82.

In contrast, prices in the shops have fallen by 1% as a result of promotions.

A recent CAMRA pricing survey undertaken across supermarkets last month revealed promotions that included Sainsbury's selling three cases of Fosters lager for £20 and Asda selling three cases of John Smith's Smooth bitter for £20 – both the equivalent of just 57.4p per pint.

Mr Protz said: "When a pub closes, the community's heart is ripped out and dies.

"People go to pubs for friendship, conversation, to enjoy an affordable meal or just quietly read a newspaper.

"Supermarkets have no idea what happens to cheap alcohol once it leaves their stores.

"In too many cases, it's passed on to under-age drinkers.

"It's the supermarkets, not pubs, that encourage binge drinking with their massively-discounted sales of alcohol."