The government’s energy industry watchdog has been accused of being ‘asleep at the wheel’ as South Devon hospitality businesses face an existential crisis.

Two local Liberal Democrat MPs highlighted the plight of the local licensed trade during a House of Commons debate on alcohol duty.

Torbay MP Steve Darling told fellow MPs: “We need the government to wake up, smell the coffee and recognise the challenges that our hospitality industry faces.

He said he had spoken to local hospitality businesses including Torquay’s Rock Garden, where a utility bill has risen to £3,000 a month, dwarfing rental costs.

“Ofgem is asleep at the wheel,” said Mr Darling. “It must back local businesses and drive the changes that we need.”

He called on the government to give the industry more protection and added: “Many people in the hospitality industry scoff at proposals that simply deregulate around the edges, because if they do not have paying customers in their premises, they are set up to fail.”

While national chains such as Wetherspoons are able to use their buying power to drive down the cost of a pint, independent venues found it impossible to cover their costs at less than £6 a pint.

Supermarket sales now accounting for more than 70 per cent of alcohol consumed.

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden said that three ‘much-loved’ businesses – Wild Artichokes, the Old Warehouse and the Old Bakery – had closed in Kingsbridge this month.

“The owner of one of those venues told us that part of the problem was the accumulation of challenges faced by the hospitality industry,” she said. “Not just the lack of people coming through the door and spending money because of the cost of living crisis, but the rises in business rates and employer National Insurance contributions, which have made it impossible for businesses to continue.

“It is a tragedy that such venues are closing every day, and something must change before the hospitality industry is devastated.”