THE smoking ban and soaring property prices are killing off Oxford's pubs at a rate of almost one every eight weeks, claim real ale enthusiasts.

In September, the White House pub, in Botley Road, was boarded up and now the Marlborough House, at the junction of Marlborough Road and Western Road, in Grandpont, has also closed.

Twelve pubs have shut in the city in the past two years, according to Tony Goulding, chairman of the Oxford branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

He said 25 pubs out of 150 in Oxford had closed in the past 10 years, but the rate of closure was speeding up, with 12 of the 25 lost shutting since 2005.

He said: "Pubs are closing at an alarming rate and the situation is getting critical. In the old days, people went to the pub and the cinema - those were their main distractions - but people lead such busy lives nowadays and it's hard to get them to come out to community pubs.

"The smoking ban certainly doesn't help. The ban, rising property prices and the sale of cheap alcohol in supermarkets is killing off our pubs."

John Mackie, pubs officer for Oxford Camra, added: "I think the smoking ban probably killed off the Marlborough House."

John Madden, of the Guild of Master Victuallers, which represents landlords in Oxfordshire, claimed the smoking ban, introduced in July, was leading to a 25 per cent drop in trade at some pubs. He said: "The ban is certainly starting to bite. We won't really know how bad the situation is until after the winter months, which will certainly put some smokers off, because they will not want to stand outside in the cold.

"We're hearing about two to three pubs a day closing countrywide - the trade is going through a really hard time.

"Property prices are high, so some companies are choosing to sell the pub buildings to developers, because some pubs are no longer profitable.

"There are still profitable pubs, but they're the ones which have diversified and learned that people want to have a meal nowadays when they go out for a drink."

Oliver du Croz, a spokesman for Punch Taverns, said: "The Marlborough House has closed and we're in the process of considering our options for the future of the site."

Lianne Sammons, licensee of the Honeypot, in Hollybush Row, said: "We saw a slight drop in trade after the smoking ban but we have heaters outside, so it hasn't been too bad. We need to wait until after the winter to really see what difference it makes."

Matthew Marren, landlord of the Old Bookbinders, in Victor Street, Jericho, said: "House prices are increasing fast in Jericho and the clientele is changing. People aren't drinking as much as they did ten years ago."

According to the trade paper, the Morning Advertiser, there are 28 pubs for sale in Oxfordshire, including four in Oxford, but their identities have not been revealed by the agents selling them.