PRINCE Charles was today in North Yorkshire to launch a report which shows that more than half of all English villages now have no pub, and seven out of ten do not have a shop.

The loss of the "local" often means that the focal point for the rural community disappears and it leaves a gap in the local economy, the report says.

More and more rural entrepreneurs are demonstrating their great potential to revitalise and maintain essential local services while increasing their own long-term viability, according to the document.

In his foreword to The Pub Is The Hub, the Prince, who was this afternoon visiting Knayton, near Thirsk, said: "Rural communities, and this country's rural way of life, are facing unprecedented challenges. Now, perhaps more than ever in their history, they must draw on their resourcefulness and resilience, built up over centuries, to meet changing circumstances and find new ways to help themselves. But they need not and, indeed cannot, do it alone. Most people are agreed that one of the major difficulties for those living in today's countryside is a lack of services.

"Finding new uses for village pubs, many of which are the only remaining service in the community, has become one part of Business in the Community's Rural Action Programme under the campaign headline, Make The Pub The Hub."

Young people's preference for larger theme pubs in town, a shift from landlord to manager-run corporate premises which require higher profit margins and greater observance of drink-drive laws are among the reasons for the decline.

Smaller villages, depressed coalfield areas and more remote or isolated settlements are more likely to experience pub closures.

Countryside Agency director Margaret Clark said: "Pubs are at the heart of rural communities across the country, serving not only the locals but visitors, holidaymakers and nearby townspeople as well."

The Prince was also helping to launch the £1.3m Rural Opportunities for Self Employment (ROSE) scheme, based on a Dales project, which has helped more than 50 young people set up a business in the Yorkshire Dales.

His charity, The Prince's Trust, is backing the ROSE scheme, which will be available to 18- to 30-year-olds across Yorkshire and The Humber.

The aim is to create 150 new businesses over the next three years by increasing skills levels and opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

Support includes pre-business start-up training, opportunity for a low interest loan, or even a grant in needy cases.

Updated: 10:36 Monday, December 17, 2001