AN award-winning landlady has called last orders for the final time and claims a “bloodsucking” PubCo has almost driven her to bankruptcy.

Kate Umpleby has been landlady of The Foresters Arms in Coatham Mundeville, Darlington, for nearly seven years and said the decision to shut the pub on Sunday was heartbreaking.

Miss Umpleby won a £5,000 Community Hero Award last year for her philanthropic endeavours which included taking in unwanted animals and arranging free delivery of home-cooked, cut-price Sunday lunches to local pensioners.

However, she has now called time amid fierce accusations that the pub’s owners, Enterprise Inns, make it virtually impossible for their tenants to make a decent living.

She criticised the high rents, the repairs and maintenance costs, and said it was impossible to make a profit when the alcohol prices charged by Enterprise were more expensive than elsewhere.

She said: “You only have to look at how many pubs are closing – about 30 a week – to know that there’s a big problem.

“So many are closing because of these bloodsuckers whose only aim is to bleed people dry.”

She added: “I didn’t come here to fail, I have not failed; the company has failed me.

“I have worked damn hard, I will be leaving this place with my head held high.

"I will make sure that I pay all my suppliers and give my staff their redundancy money.

“But I just can’t continue, I can’t physically do it, there is not enough money in it and I will end up bankrupt, most probably.”

A spokesman for Enterprise said the company was disappointed by Miss Umpleby’s shock departure, adding that she had been offered “significant levels of business support” including rent reductions.

He pointed out that the ‘tied’ Enterprise model provides tenants with the investment and support of a national pub company without the expense of having to purchase and maintain a freehold property.

He said: “The lease agreement on the Foresters Arms included full repair and maintenance of the premises, a responsibility that Kate was aware of from the outset.

“As further commitment of support for her, we carried out and paid for a full external redecoration of the pub and installation of new external signage.”

He added that Enterprise receives around 70 enquiries a week from prospective new publicans, illustrating that its operating model is attractive to tenants.

Miss Umpleby will remain living in Darlington and hopes to find work into her previous industry of sales and business development.

She said that leaving her Foresters Arms workforce and having to re-home the chickens and ducks she had given refuge to over the years was heartbreaking.

However, she said that she has also been overwhelmed with support from her staff and customers who donated £650 towards a holiday that is being booked for her to a surprise destination.

A facebook page set up to highlight her departure has also attracted scores of supportive comments and she has pledged to continue campaigning to highlight the plight of other pub tenants struggling to survive.

And as a parting shot to Enterprise, Miss Umpleby left a passionate message on the Foresters Arms answering machine wishing her former customers well, but warning interested parties against taking the “poisoned chalice” of its lease and telling Enterprise representative to "go to hell".