A comedian from Birmingham is raising a glass to help save British pub culture through his latest TV project.
Joe Lycett is doing so through his new Channel 4 series, The Lycett Arms, a six-part show set in an east London pub.
It is open to members of the public for just an hour a week, airing live on Fridays at 10pm.
In each episode, Mr Lycett is joined by a celebrity pub manager on a trial shift, and the featured pub is twinned with a real pub elsewhere in the UK.
The comedian said: "The live performance sector, if you want to call it that, is under great threat, and the pub industry is as well.
"And I think anything we can do to celebrate our British boozers is a good thing because yes, they provide a watering hole and, as I’ve said, I do think they’re really good for society at large.
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"It’s good to have a public house where the public can come in and mingle with one another.
"It’s good for people who are lonely.
"It’s good for people who need to connect with their community."
To legally run The Lycett Arms, Mr Lycett completed a training course and exam to earn a level 2 award for personal licence-holders.
Mr Lycett said: "I moved to my area of Birmingham because I loved the local pub and I still do, and when I go in there, there’s always someone that I kind of know and can sit and have a drink with.
"I think it’s been a place of great solace for me over the years, and I think pubs closing in places kills the local area.
"And so we definitely want to champion those amazing boozers around the country."
The Lycett Arms airs live on Channel 4 on Friday nights at 10pm from Friday, September 4.
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