Hitchin: National pub chain Wetherspoon has announced it is selling off 32 pubs across the country amid rising costs - but Angel Vaults on Sun Street survives.

Rising wages, staff and labour costs are said to be the reason behind the move.

The pub chain today, Wednesday (September 28) confirmed the 'commercial decision' after previously warning it could face losses of up to £30million.

In a statement, Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: "On occasion, Wetherspoon does put some of its pubs up for sale.

"This is a commercial decision.

"We understand that customers and staff will be disappointed with it. The pubs will continue to operate as Wetherspoon outlets until they are sold."

Hitchin's Wetherspoon was on the site of the old Hitchin Conservative Club on Sun Street before it was revamped and called Angel Vaults when it came under the control of the national pub chain.

The name acknowledges the medieval inn, The Angel Vaults, from which the road Angel Street was called – now Sun Street. The name came from a shortlist of suggestions by the Hitchin Historical Society prior to the Wetherspoon opening in our town back in 2014.

At the time of opening, the Angel Vaults' Inn sported a possessive apostrophe in the name, but, after uproar from local grammarians, the company removed the offending apostrophe, as you can see from our picture.

Stevenage's Wetherspoon, The Standing Order on the High Street, also avoided the cut, as did Letchworth's The Three Magnets in the Arcade.

Full list of Wetherspoon pubs to close

Barnsley – Silkstone Inn

Beaconsfield – Hope & Champion

Bexleyheath – Wrong 'Un

Bournemouth – Christopher Creeke

Cheltenham – Bank House

Durham – Water House

Halifax – Percy Shaw

Hanham – Jolly Sailor

Harrow – Moon on the Hill

Hove – Cliftonville Inn

London Battersea – Asparagus

London East Ham – Miller's Well

London Eltham – Bankers Draft

London Forest Gate – Hudson Bay

London Forest Hill – Capitol

London Hornsey – Toll Gate

London Holborn – Penderel's Oak

London Islington – Angel

London Palmers Green – Alfred Herring

Loughborough – Moon & Bell

Loughton – Last Post

Mansfield – Widow Frost

Middlesbrough – Resolution

Purley – Foxley Hatch

Redditch – Rising Sun

Sevenoaks - Sennockian

Southampton – Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis

Stafford – Butler's Bell

Watford – Colombia Press

West Bromwich – Billiard Hall

Willenhall – Malthouse

Wirral – John Masefield