Going down to the pub on Friday night has long been a traditional part of British culture, but more Brits are now buying cheap alcohol at the supermarket and drinking it at home, causing many pubs to shut down.

The Times of London reported April 20 that cheap supermarket beer, higher costs and taxes, tough drunk-driving laws, and the U.K.'s new indoor-smoking ban have conspired to make life harder for British publicans. The British Beer & Pub Association says that the number of pubs in the country has fallen from 69,000 in 1980 to 57,000 now, with pubs closing at a rate 14 times higher than in 2005. Village pubs have been especially hard-hit, and beer sales at pubs are at their lowest level since the Great Depression.

"The whole industry is going to implode," said Chris Unwin, a pub owner in Plymouth. "Behind the monarchy, the pub is one of the great things in this country. If you lose that, you lose everything."

Some Britons are still going to the pub on Saturday nights, but are spending Fridays at home more frequently.  "The industry has lost a night and it tends to be Friday. People still want to go out one evening a week, but they have chosen another night to stay at home, drink lager from the supermarket and smoke," said Ian Payne, chairman of pub-management firm Laurel.

Many struggling pub owners, however, blame most of their woes on pub operating companies that they say overcharge them for beer instead of passing along the cost savings from their bulk purchases.

In response to changing times, more pubs are now serving food. A recent study found that 23 percent of all meals served outside of the home in Britain are sold by pubs. Some smaller pubs, however, are not equipped to serve food, especially the smaller village pubs.