A COCKTAIL bar in the town centre has voiced concern amid rising energy costs.

Dead Eyes Cocktail Bar and Street Food, on Bridge Street, is one of many small businesses worried about the current cost of living crisis.

The bar has been in the town centre for nearly eight years, and now the owners claim that without help from the Government then the entire sector may collapse.

Dead Eyes won the Warrington Guardian's 'Best Burger 2022' award.

The owners said: "Bars, pubs and hospitality, in general, are all struggling massively.

"The cost of electricity and gas is much higher than business rates and rent combined."

They added: "What doesn’t help is many of the energy companies we used that had fixed tariffs have all collapsed, so we’re all in rolling contracts with high tariffs.

"The Government needs to react like it did for Covid."

The bar suggested that 'quick fixes' like a cut in VAT or grants to deal with energy costs would be particularly useful for struggling businesses.

Charlotte Nichols, MP for Warrington North, is the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pubs.

She said: "The past couple of years have seen the hospitality industry, particularly our pubs, take body blow after body blow.

"Now with energy and other prices soaring they are on their last legs, and customers struggling to make ends meet are cutting down on spending that might otherwise help keep them afloat.

"The Government must engage with the industry and guarantee a specific package of support for the sector, or we will lose our pubs and all that they mean for our community."

A number of bars and pubs in Warrington were contacted to discuss the cost of living, and how it has impacted them - the owners of Dead Eyes were the only respondents.