Mr Lee holds the punch-bag while his son, Peter, lets fly.

Padiham landlord Mr Archer Lee has thought of a novel way of working up customers' thirst. He has introduced a gymnasium above the bar at the Alma Inn and a lot of interest is already being shown in the scheme. Mr Lee decided to open a large upstairs room and at first thought of getting a half-size snooker table, but then decided to use it for weight training and keep-fit. He is being helped in the gym by Bobby Clark, who was the British Olympic bantam-weight weight-lifting champion 11 years ago and only just missed a place in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

The gym is open every night for two hours and also on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Mr Lee plans to have no more than four people there at a time, so that they can have plenty of room to use the equipment. He said: "At the moment we have a punch-bag and ball, gloves, weights and springs, but are hoping to get more equipment as we go along. I also have had a new shower put in." Bobby Clark said: "There is real interest in this sort of thing and I am sure this venture will catch on and be very successful." Mr Lee said he had not started the gym so that customers could strengthen their arms for lifting pints!