UK now has more churches than pubs after 11,000 boozers shut down in a decade

There are now apparently more venues to worship Jesus in than they are to get drunk.

New figures have revealed the UK has 40,300 church buildings compared to just 39,000 pubs.

That doesn’t mean more people are becoming religious, with the change being blamed on the dwindling number of boozers.

Around three pubs are closing every day, meaning more than 11,000 locals have shut down in the last decade – a fall of almost a quarter.

Church buildings are also popular because they are multi-purpose, with people using them as community hubs, children’s nurseries, senior citizen lunch clubs, concerts and exhibition venues.

On the odd occasion they’re even utilised as Post Offices, GP surgeries, farmer’s markets and of course polling stations.

Reverend Lucy Winked, Rector of St James’ church, in London’s Piccadilly, said: ‘Church buildings are a tremendous national asset for the UK. Many of them are historic buildings, a vital part of our national heritage.’

British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) chief executive Brigid Simmonds suggested pubs and churches should work together to save British community spirit.

She added: ‘Pubs are like churches.

‘They’re about so much more than just drinking, they’re one of the last social places for people to go and mix with each other.

‘We’ve got to fight to save our pubs, but I believe they are a prize worth fighting for.’

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UK Church membership has declined from 10.6m in 1930 to 5.4m in 2013.

But the number of members has been kept stable by migration and the rise in Evangelical and Pentecostal venues.

In the 2011 census, 59.5% of people said they were Christian, 4.4% Muslim and 1.3% Hindu while 25.7% said they were not religious.

The stats for the latest study were formulated by Brierley Consultancy after The National Churches Trust sent it data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to analyse.