THE final pint has been pulled at a village pub due to a lack of customers.

The Railway Inn, based on Ireleth Road, Askam, has closed its doors for good.

Brian Johnson, who has owned the pub since 2014, said when he reopened after lockdown he had levels would return to normal but they did not.

“We reopened the Railway on June 18 in hopes that things would slowly return to normal, but people are still wary of Covid," he said.

“It appears that people have just got used to drinking at home so due to the lack of custom remaining open became untenable.”

He thanked customers for all their support.

Dave Stubbins, chairman of the Furness branch for the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA), said he was saddened to hear the news of another pub having to close its doors due to the Coronavirus crisis.

“It’s very sad to have seen the Railway go," he said. "It was ran by a lovely family who I knew well and had a couple of branch meetings there.

“It’s been tragic for the pub industry. I’m hoping they will have enough support from the government to see them through it.

“Thankfully, we haven’t seen too many real ale pubs in our area suffering.

“More real ale drinkers are more astute - they will go drinking at there regular pub and be more supportive by sticking to it.

“Because of the lockdown there has been a super uptake for market beer - some of that will unfortunately become the norm now.

“You’ve got a range of people now. The younger generation will still always be out on a Friday night drinking but they aren’t typically the market for real ale and on the other hand there are a lot of people who like going to the pub but have got use to staying in and buying from the supermarkets.

“Some people are still a little bit nervous about leaving the house so will stay in for that reason. I’m in my 70’s now and I am also a bit nervous but life has to go back to normal eventually.”