“HOW many pubs and other establishments will survive through this extension of the measures?”

That was the question from one concerned reader after it was revealed limits on social contact meant spending in pubs in the borough of Barrow was still below pre-pandemic levels.

The data came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed back the end of England’s coronavirus restrictions to Monday, July 19 due to concerns over the rapidly spreading Delta variant first identified in India.

Hospitality and pub industry leaders have written to Mr Johnson demanding support for the sector.

Banking firm Revolut analysed the data of its 4,000 customers in Barrow between May 17 - when indoor hospitality resumed after the third national lockdown - and June 13.

Barrow punters spent more than twice as much in pubs over this period as they did in the previous month - when only outdoor hospitality was allowed.

But spending was still 40 per cent below the level recorded before the pandemic struck.

And concerned Mail reader Anthony Perkins questioned how long pubs and similar businesses would survive given the month-long extension to coronavirus restrictions.

He said: “Some pub/club landlords and working men’s club (WMC)/Royal British Legion (RBL) stewards may get so upset and angry at the current status quo of affairs that they’ll just throw in the towel, hand in their keys, give back the lease and possibly shut them up for good, or the brewery or pubco will put the pub/club/WMC or RBL clubs up for sale on the market and move on.

“There’s only so far you can push the patience of pub landlords, pubcos and breweries - which is rapidly wearing thin... and this Government is going to be the death of them.”

Another reader, Antöny Statham, said: “They [the Government] don’t want pubs to survive it seems.”