James Reed
THE bar is never far away but finding a seat could be a challenge for customers at a new pint-sized pub now open in Cleethorpes.
Measuring little more than a prison cell in dimensions, the Signal Box Inn claims to be the smallest pub in the world.
The landlord is hopeful it will be a magnet for tourists – but with room for just four small stools and no tables, anything more than half a dozen customers at a time will be a squeeze.
Despite its small scale, the Signal Box Inn is a genuine watering hole, opening from 11am to 11pm and its five handpumps offering a range of real ales.
As its name suggests, the pub is housed in a former signal box at the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway which dates back more than a century.
It measures 8ft by 8ft and an application is already with the Guinness Book of Records in the hope it can earn the official title of the world's smallest pub.
Landlord Andrew McCall has done research which has not found any watering hole in the world that is smaller.
On paper, the new pub easily beats the current record holder – Sam's World's Smallest Bar in Colorado Springs, Colorado, US, which has a total floor area of 10.179 square metres (109.57 sq ft).
That bar, which also has four seats and is owned by Sam Guadagnoli, could soon be facing a name change if the Signal Box's claim to the record is accepted.
The closest competition in this country is the Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, with a floor space of 112.5 sq ft.
The new contender opened its doors at the weekend's Rail Ale festival, where local people and tourists had their chance to sample the real ale on offer as well as the limited facilities.
Mr McCall, 35, decided to open a tiny pub after the idea came to him while working behind the bar at a 1940s weekend held at the railway.
He said: "I thought it would be great if I could create the world's smallest pub in a signal box."
Now that dream has been realised, the task is to attract customers to make it a business success – but since 98,000 passengers pass through the station every year the challenge may actually be how to fit them all in.
Mr McCall, who runs the pub single-handedly, said: "We've got a beer garden too, and that can hold about 20 or 30 people.
"Luckily there are quite specific real ales here so I don't think young people will be that interested.
"I would have to refuse to serve someone if the bar and garden were full and if there is trouble, I can just push them out of the door – it's not too far."
As everything is on a small scale it is perhaps no surprise that some things have not gone smoothly. Some of the bigger drinks manufacturers refused to fit their equipment in the pub, fearing it would not do enough trade.
Storing enough drinks to keep the pub well stocked is also a challenge.
Mr McCall said: "There have been a couple of little hiccups. But there is at least one ale ready on tap.
"I've got a tiny cellar as well. Now I'm just looking for the smallest cellarman in Britain to work in it."
Tourists have already been quick to seek out the pub.
The landlord added: "A lot of tourists were stopping me and I had to have my picture taken. There were plenty there with video cameras so it's definitely more popular than I initially thought it would be."