Punters have been left delighted after Urban Pubs and Bars announced recent expansion plans to open new pubs in London.

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The company, which marked its 10th anniversary last month, has been growing at a rapid pace for the last few years.

Bosses now want to maintain a strong pace and build a pipeline of new openings that will see the number of boozers doubled in the years ahead, reports Daily Mail.

Malc Heap, co-founder of Urban Pubs and Bars, said: “We’ve got to 42 pubs after some really strong openings over the past few years, doubling us in size.

And we’re hoping we can do that again over the coming years too.

“Our balance sheet is in a really good position to allow us to move when good opportunities arise and we are really happy with our pipeline.

“Our immediate ambitions are to keep growing. Our performance and growth have been really good for the past two or three years so we are taking a lot of confidence from that and our good management team.”

The chief said the company is planning to target and tap more sites inside London as a part of their new plans after receiving a positive and confident response from London punters.

These new plans could give a major boost to the pub industry in the UK, which has been witnessing a chain of closures amid Britain’s retail apocalypse.

More than 500 British boozers closed their doors for the final time last year.

Crippling taxes and inflation meant the total number of closures since 2017 hit 3,043.

And last year alone, 6,000 people lost their jobs as a result of boozers having to shut down.

Pub chiefs warned that more are on the way with landlords struggling to operate on “incredibly narrow margins”.

They blame the rising price of raw materials, energy bills and a heavy tax ­burden for their plight.

Thanks to The Sun’s Save Our Sups campaign, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in last November’s Autumn Statement that alcohol duty would remain frozen until August this year.

Customers were left crying it is a “sad sign of the times” as another major bar chain, with 1,400 venues, is set to close a “breathtaking” venue in days.

The Pitcher and Piano has confirmed it is set to shut its Richmond, London, site next Saturday, June 15.

The Old Chainyard in Bilston, West Mids, sadly announced its upcoming closure much to the disappointment of locals.

Meanwhile, a boozer selling Britain’s “most expensive” beer has stunned thirsty punters looking for a pint.

The Cask Pub in Pimlico, South London, was caught charging the equivalent of almost £60 for a single pint of beer.

The cheeky pub was charging £19 for just a third of a pint of “Iris 2025”, a 15 per cent speciality beer from Belgian speciality brewer Cantillon.

The average pint now costs £5 and an American-style tipping system could soon be arriving in Britain, a new report has found.

A whopping 2,500 hospitality businesses, staff, and customers gave insight into the industry for the research, which also revealed where the priciest wets are.

Unsurprisingly, London has the most expensive pint in the country, with the average one costing a frightening £7.15.

Belfast, at £6.71, and Brighton and Hove, at £6.60, come in at second and third respectively.

Meanwhile, the cheapest pints in the country can be found in north Wales and Scotland.

The new research was commissioned by hospitality tech company Three Rocks – which also found that between January and March, four licensed premises closed a day around the country.