Greg Mulholland, director of Campaign for Pubs, said the growing anger over the fire and demolition of the Crooked House pub in Staffordshire must act as a "catalyst for change" in the protection of historic pubs.
"Up and down the country, communities are seeing pubs converted and demolished when the pub was perfectly viable in many cases," he said. "The government will say it's down to councils and communities to act, which is a complete cop-out.
"It's very easy for politicians to say how important the pub is and to pose behind the bar with a pint. But actually, we have a very laissez-faire system when it comes to pubs. We are losing part of our history and our heritage, and that's just not recognised in the planning system at the moment."
The Crooked House pub was burned in a fire nine days after being sold by Marston's to a new buyer. It was one of 61 pubs the brewer put on the market earlier this year, while the Stonegate Group, the largest pub company in the UK, has put 1,000 venues up for sale in recent months.
The famously wonky pub in Staffordshire was demolished by its new owners, the property firm ATE Farms, two days after the fire, amid a police investigation into the blaze.
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