EAST Lancashire folk are doing their best to drink the area's pubs dry during France '98.

Bosses at Whitbread Brewery say they have been staggered by the amount of beer being consumed in pubs and bought from off-licences up and down the land.

But they added there was no chance of the pumps running dry as all their breweries, including the one at Samlesbury, were coping well with the high demand.

Spokesman Stephanie O Hara said: "There has been more demand during the first week of the World Cup than in our best ever Christmas week. "It's been a bumper time for all our brands and we see no reason why that won't continue right up until the final."

Blackburn Licensed Victuallers' Association spokesman said: "There is no doubt that town centre pubs are doing very well out of the World Cup and landlords have noticed a big increase in people visiting from offices after work and during lunch time.

"But other pubs out of the centre have not noticed any real difference in trade levels and that is mainly because of the bargains supermarkets are offering on beer. There is no way they can compete.

"I also think that the amount of surround sound televisions in people's living rooms these days mean the novelty of going to watch football on a big screen has worn off."

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