WHEN pub-lover Mick Waite wants to go to his local he doesn’t have to travel far – just to his hallway in fact.

For his drinks are always on the house - as he’s transformed it into a 1930s-style boozer, complete with wood panelling and vintage pictures.

The 65-year-old, who lives in York, began to work on his labour of love 15 years ago, converting the cupboard-under-the-stairs that most people just use for storage.

And now he spends his evenings propping up his own bar, sometimes with cask ales bought from local breweries.

“I have either knocked £20,000 off the value of the house or, if I sell it to a real ale fan, added £20,000,” he joked.

“I have always loved the 1930s and 40s styles and I think I always thought I would like it to look like one of my favourite pubs.”

He added: “A hall is a little-used part of a house, just there to get you to the stairs, but I spend 90 per cent of my time here now, even when having my cuppa.”

His pub-under-the-stairs is called The Midnight Bell, and when two of his friends founded Leeds Brewery, they paid tribute by using the same name for their flagship pub in Holbeck, Leeds.