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It's last orders at the bar for one beer fanatic who has decided to sell his 9,000 strong beer can collection so he and his wife can downsize their house.

Retired banker, Nick West, from Clevedon, North Somerset, first sparked an interest in collecting cans when his future wife, Deborah, bought him a book about beer back in 1975.

But what started as an innocent hobby for the 58-year-old soon grew into an obsession, with Nick spending hours on the internet every evening looking for new cans and forcing himself to drink several “disgusting” beers each night so he can add the empty cans to his hoard.

(Image: Caters) (Image: Caters)

Nick had converted part of his house into a ‘beer can library’ - but has now packed up the cans into dozens of boxes after agreeing with Deborah that his hobby had got out of control.

But after he and Deborah recently retired from their jobs at Lloyds Bank , Nick decided enough was enough and has now officially quit his habit on July 13 - exactly 42 years after he got his first ever can.

(Image: Caters) (Image: Caters)

He said: “My wife and I retired a couple of weeks ago so our income has been dramatically reduced.

“We also want to downsize. Also rather morbidly my wife and kids have zero interest in it and I’m not getting any younger.

“When I do eventually go I don’t want to leave them with all that to sort through.”