Doctor and kitchen fitter become paid-up pub friends of lonely pensioner after son advertised for drinking companions

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Jack Hammond, 88, was inundated with offers after his son put an advert in his local post office window offering £7 an hour for someone to meet him in his local pub.

Now the great grandfather has picked out two new friends after father and son had a drink with all the candidates on a shortlist.

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Retired kitchen fitter Trevor Pugh, 78 (left) will accompany Jack Hammond (right) to the pub twice a week

Mr Hammond, a retired engineer from Lancashire, had to drink alone after moving to a care home in Winsor, Hampshire, to be near his family.

All but one of the other residents are women, not natural candidates for an evening in the Compass Inn discussing military history and Preston North End football club.

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Drinking time: Jack Hammond, 88, now has two friends to share a pint with

But Mr Hammond and his son Mike, 56, have now picked out retired kitchen fitter Trevor Pugh, 78, from Southampton, and 58-year-old Henry Rosenvinge, a former doctor.

Mr Pugh said: "There is ten years difference in our ages but we are both ex-Army so we have that in common."

Dr Rosenvinge, from Lyndhurst, Hampshire, said: "We are both from Lancashire so we have a lot we can argue about."

Mike Hammond, a chef, said: "Dad will mow be going to the pub several times a week - three times with his new friends and twice with me.

"He was extremely sociable before he moved and I wanted to give him some of his old life back."