Norwich pub landlady Dawn Hopkins to speak at mass rally in London

A Norwich landlady is the only publican in the UK set to address a rally in London that follows a mass parliamentary lobby calling for MPs to back the great British pub.

More than 1,000 Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) members, brewers and publicans will attend the event where Dawn Hopkins will speak alongside MPs Greg Mulholland, Andrew Griffiths, Caroline Nokes, Charlotte Leslie, Hazel Blears and Colin Valentine and various Camra bosses.

The event is organised by Camra's Save Your Pint Campaign, which is calling for the controversial beer tax escalator - which puts 2pc above inflation each year on the cost of a pint - to be scrapped.

Mrs Hopkins, who runs the Rose in Queens Road and the Ketts Tavern in Ketts Hill and has been asked to speak from a publican's point of view, said: 'I am feeling a bit scared now when I look at who else is speaking. The beer duty escalator is an extra tax no other industry has, and means over �1 goes straight to the government in duty and VAT from every pint.'

Emily Ryans, Camra's campaigns manager, said: 'Dawn is a tireless campaigner against the damaging impact of the unfair beer duty escalator and she's done a fantastic job in highlighting this vital issue with her local MPs. We think she's ideally placed to now take the argument to Westminster and help persuade decision makers to back the Great British pub.'

Graham Freeman, chairman of the Norwich and Norfolk Camra branch, will also attend and lobby his MP, Norwich South's Simon Wright.

The rally will take place from 4pm to 4.30pm on Wednesday, December 12 at the Emmanuel Centre, Marsham Street, SW1P 3DW, which is just five minutes' walk from the Houses of Parliament.

The Evening News' Love your Local campaign aims to get people back into pubs.

To see more stories from the campaign visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk/loveyourlocal