THE licensee of The Five Alls pub in Chepstow has called time on the business she has run for 11 years, blaming the effects of the recession.

Alison Beasley, who also runs the King’s Head and The Smirnoff Bar/White Lion, both in the town centre, says she is upset that she has had to cease trading at the pub she began running back in 2000.

She claims poor profits and a downturn in the night-time economy have forced her to close the pub.

She said: “It was really emotional because I have a lot of good memories of the pub. It was the first pub I ever ran and a lot happened during my life there.

“My children were young there, and now they are all grown up, my mother died a few years back and we went through a lot with that pub. A lot of memories will be left behind in there.”

Miss Beasley added that the effects of the recession had started hitting all of the pubs she runs, but that The Five Alls had been losing money for some time.

She said: “Years ago it was the place to be for live music and we did really well there, but then people started complaining about noise so that all stopped.

“To be honest, we were having to use profits from the other pubs to keep it afloat, and it was just not worth it. It came to the point where we just had to make a decision to let it go.” The Five Alls officially closed on June 18, and people packed into the pub on news it was closing.

Miss Beasley said: “It’s funny, so many people came down and said they wish they could have come more, but people just don’t have the money anymore.

“It’s getting like this everywhere now, all the pubs are feeling the bite.”