THE FUTURE of one of the city's oldest pubs is in doubt after the current landlords called time this week.

The Victualling Office Tavern, Stonehouse, has joined a growing list of city hostelries falling victim to a drop in punters and a rise in alcohol prices along with steep rent.

The pub, the third oldest in Plymouth, was losing £4,500 a month, according to landlords Clive and Gillian Philpott.

"People were still coming in but they weren't drinking as much," said Clive, who sacrificed £200,000 of his own money to try to keep the business afloat.

Gillian, who celebrated her 55th birthday yesterday, was too upset to speak about the closure.

"We used to take around £1,800 to £2,000 on a Friday or Saturday night. Saturday just gone we took about £75," said Clive.

And after a dismal trade on Mothering Sunday which saw the business take just £300 in food and drink combined, the couple decided to cut their losses. "We kept believing it would pick up but it didn't," said Clive.

"We should have shut 12 months ago and it has just gone down and down."

The 54-year-old took the decision to shut the pub to plough all of his reserves into his other business, Drake's Bakery, Devonport.

But he believes the city as a whole will feel the loss of another local pub full of character.

"Pubs are dying," said Clive, whose son Adam, aged 22, was also a well-known face behind the bar.

"We will miss the friendly locals the most. They were coming over and working for nothing to try to get people in."

The businessman added that when he first took over the pub in September 2007 the situation was brilliant and the pub had a great atmosphere, but regulars have dwindled as fewer and fewer people can afford the prices at their local drinking hole. "We can't compete with places that are charging £2.50 a pint when we are charging £3.00," he said.

"We had a band here on Friday and the place was packed, but we took £400 so people weren't drinking."

And despite the pub being on the market for the past 12 months, nobody has come forward to continue running it.

The Tavern was tied in with pub operator London Town PLC which went into administration on February 19 so Clive is now waiting to find out what the future will hold. But until then one of the city's landmark pubs will remain closed.