Staying in really is the new going out for these two good neighbours – after they built a tiny PUB between their semi-detached homes.
Kelvin Mayes, 46, and wife Samantha, 47, and their neighbours Rob Sheldon, 53, and wife Helen, 47, spent just £80 on the boozer using mainly recycled items.
The pub, which measures just 15ft (4.6m) long and 6ft (1.8m) wide, was built in a narrow space between their semi-detached homes in Willenhall, West Mids.
The couples spent £40 on the corrugated iron roof while the bar is an old work surface and the chairs came from an old double-decker bus.
They stocked up the pub, named The Outback Inn, with their own home brewed beers, lagers, wines and ciders and used trinkets found on eBay and car boot sales.
The pub, which took three months to build, has an Australian-shack theme with kangaroos and boomerangs as part of the decor.
Kelvin, who teaches people to drive trucks and forklifts, said he was inspired to build the pub after seeing old wooden boxes lying around.
The dad-of-two added: “We started home brewing and it has all stemmed from there.
“We were quite pally with the neighbours and just wanted somewhere to drink other than our front room.
“It was like a light bulb moment. It is far beyond anything we imagined it would be.”
“We had some friends over for a barbecue in the summer and they were just gobsmacked.
“We just keep adding to it now.
“The main thing for us, is that you see these things on the internet where you can spend thousands and thousands of pounds on a pub shed.
“We have done ours 95 per cent out of recycled stuff which was destined for the tip.
“We believe we have achieved something really special.”
Neighbour Helen, who works as an accounts assistant, said the pub was the perfect place for both couples to store their home brewed booze.
The mum-of-one added: “It was built at the start of the year and then we have kept adding to it since.
“The roof is the only thing that was bought new, the rest is either recycled or second-hand.
“We have brewed our own lagers and ciders and wines from different fruits so it is the perfect place to sit and enjoy them.
“We probably all meet up and go in there a few times a week, mainly at the weekends.
“It is lovely to go out for a meal but then be able to come home and have a sit in the bar.
“It is popular with our friends and families too and we had a lot of summer barbecues where it came in handy.”
The pub, which has its own brown wooden front door, fits perfectly between the couples’ two houses – providing extra security for their back gardens.
There are also curtains at the entrance to the atmospheric bar which has enough seating spaces around its single table for between six and eight drinkers.
It then has posters on the walls as well as old drinking mugs and even beer mats just like a real pub.
And the micro-boozer is topped off by a fully-stocked bar at the far end with shelves full of the two couples’ home brewed drinks.
