TWO years ago, Tim Barlow was standing at the bar of his local pub chatting to the landlord about how business was going.

Etwall born and bred, Tim had left the village 20 years earlier for the bright lights of London and forged a successful career as a management consultant.

But as he propped up the bar at the Hawk and Buckle, hearing how the landlord was looking to get out of the pub trade, a light bulb went on in his head.

The 48-year-old said: "I just thought that this was something I could have a crack at.

"Coming back to Etwall after 20-plus years away and the chance to run my old local seemed like an opportunity that was too good to turn down.

"So I bought the lease to the pub and here I am."

Tim and his partner, 32-year-old Viv Hancock, have been running the Main Street pub ever since.

The 21-year lease cost the couple £120,000 but they are determined to make a success of the pub.

The father-of-four said: "The past two years have been down to hard work and it hasn't been easy.

"Etwall is a relatively affluent village and just two pubs serve 3,000 people, so there is already a decent market here.

"But the things that have squeezed the business have not been the lack of support from the locals but the rising costs.

"Since the start of the year, food, which accounts for around 15% of trade, has risen by 25% and then you have rents, rates and services such as gas and electricity on top of that.

"Our turnover is around £500,000 per year but turning that into profit is proving very difficult."

Tim, who has four daughters, Holly, 16, Lucy, 13, Lauren, seven, and Jemima, three, added: "Is the village pub still the focal point of the village? I think it probably is, yes.

"We have a number of different groups and societies that hold their meetings here in the function room, so I am quite fortunate for that trade."

Pub closures have accelerated to five-a-day according to a recent study by the British Beer and Pub Association.

The alarming figures show an astonishing 33% rise in the number of closures on the same period last year.

Roger Protz, who edits the Good Beer Guide for the Campaign for Real Ale, said: "When a pub closes, the community's heart is ripped out and dies.

"It is a particular problem in rural areas where the village pub is the heart of the community."

Trevor Martin has run the Joiners Arms, in Quarndon, with his wife, Lee, for the past 14 years.

He has slowly seen profits squeezed because of rising rents and rates.

The 63-year-old father-of-two said: "If I did not have a function room I would not be here – it keeps me alive.

"We have a lot of people book here because of the proximity to Markeaton Crematorium, so we have a lot of wakes here.

"My wife, Lee, does a fantastic buffet for such events and I would challenge anyone to do better in the area."

Trevor said that the smoking ban had affected passing trade. Previously, many workers on their way out of the city would often stop to unwind.

He said: "Now, because they can't have a fag with their pint here, they just drive straight past and open a bottle of beer at home."

In the time he has run the Joiners Arms, he said he would estimate that only 5% of his trade has come from the villagers in Quarndon.

Trevor, whose two sons, Andrew, 39 and Neil, 37, still live in the area, said: "I would love the pub to be the hub of village life but with factors such as cheaper booze in the shops, it is a struggle to get people in through the door."

Husband and wife team Andrew and Fiona West-Hunt have been running the Spotted Cow, in Holbrook, for the past six years.

Twelve weeks ago they also took over the running of the Spanker Inn, in Nether Heage.

Having built up the Spotted Cow by offering affordable, high-quality food, they have started to use the same blueprint at the Spanker.

Andrew, 50, and Fiona, 43, have two children, 12-year-old Alex and Rosa, eight.

"The village pub is the glue that holds the village together," said Andrew.

"People gather there to swap stories and relax and that has always been the case with rural pubs.

"In our case, the communities at each pub could not be any more different.

"Holbrook is more of a commuter village, with people living here but working in Derby or Nottingham.

"On the other hand, Nether Heage is more agricultural. You have to know your market to succeed."

Over the past two years, Andrew said that the menu at the Spotted Cow had changed dramatically and he was delighted that regulars were trying new and different types of food alongside more traditional bar meals.

He said: "We are finding that fewer people are booking to use the restaurant but more people are dropping by on the chance we have a table.

"Lunchtimes we always have a steady flow of people coming through but we have tried to be more imaginative in the evening, with meals such as belly pork and roasted vegetable stew.

"Two years ago, I would never have tried anything so different but these are becoming best sellers.

"We have seen a real change as well in the dynamics of pub-going.

"Where we would see the traditional weekend nights, where it would be massively busy, followed by the dead Monday nights, now we are seeing more of a constant flow throughout the week."