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Pint-sized pub!
A PINT-SIZED pub championing real ale could be on its way to the town if council bosses give plans the go-ahead.
The tiny pub, that will accommodate just 15 to 20 customers at a time, would be one of the country's smallest and would offer a choice selection of fine beers, should it get the green light.
The "micropub" concept has been adopted by real-ale lover Peter Morgan, who is hoping to make his hobby a reality after being made redundant from his job as a resource manager at a building society.
The 44-year-old has put in an application to Hartlepool Borough Council's planning department to convert the old Dawn till Dusk newsagents in Hartlepool railway station into the pint-sized pub after sub letting the unit from Northern Rail.
A life member of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), Peter said: "I won't be selling any lager, alcopops or spirits. I will be selling mostly real ale and I will have four real ales on at any one time.
"I will have traditional cider and wine, and that's it."
Mr Morgan decided to follow his dreams after hearing a presentation by Martyn Hillier who instigated the "micropub" concept, where former retail units are transformed into miniature pubs.
Mr Hillier runs the only other established "micropub" in England called The Butcher's Arms, in Kent, but he said his idea is catching on.
The former butcher's shop, is now considered the smallest free house in England, comfortably holding 18 customers at a time, measuring 15ft by 12ft.
Mr Morgan said: "My whole unit will be around 20ft by 14ft, which is the same size as my living room. A third of it will be the area where the cellar is.
"It won't appeal to people who want to go out on the lash because we would only be open lunchtimes and early evening."
Mr Morgan, of Trimdon Station, said the pub would be called The Rat Race Ale House and opening hours would be 12pm-2pm and 4.30pm-8pm.
He said: "It's my hobby to go round pubs and find good beers, and I know a lot of other people like me so it's a niche.
"What I would like is for anybody who gets on or off the train in Hartlepool to try a proper real ale and go, 'wow that's good stuff', that's what the Campaign for Real Ale is all about - encouraging people to try it."
The plans will be discussed by the council's licensing committee on a date still to be fixed.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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