The Great British boozer is making a comeback with 2019 being the first year in a decade that has seen the number of pubs increase.

Numbers from the Office of National Statistics show that there were 320 more pubs pulling pints in 2019 than there were in 2018.

Given that the total number of watering holes from Land's End to John O'Groats is nearly 40,000 that isn't a startling increase, but it does halt a decline in numbers.

According to the ONS pub numbers had been falling by an average of 750 per year since 2010, leaving 38,815 open and trading on March 31, 2018.

By the same day in 2019, there were 39,135 pubs trading - an increase of just 0.82 per cent, but an increase to at least raise a glass at.

The research was led by Scottish based firm Stampede and comes a day after Wetherspoons announced plans to expand their UK operations.

The huge UK-wide firm announced plans to invest up to £200million in their existing pubs and new outlets, creating a further 10,000 jobs across the country.