Royal appeals to locals

The Royal Hotel in Formby is one of those pubs that suffers from locals preferring to lock themselves inside their expensive homes rather than mix with the hoi polloi.

In a bid to tempt people back, the Liverpool Road ale house is offering a full range of traditional pub competitions including pool, darts, dominoes, shove ha’penny and shuffleboard. Beer pong is not on the menu.

Landlord Andy Jackson is finding life tough after the smoking ban came in but is working hard to make the pub a hub for pub-shy locals.

“Running a pub is certainly a lifestyle rather than an occupation,” he said wearily.