A WESTON author and beer enthusiast has collected 900 beer mats during his trips to pubs around the UK and Europe, Peter Dyke writes.

Rob Derry, from Uphill, takes a souvenir with him every time he leaves a pub and so far, he collected 900 beer mats.

They now plaster the walls and a sloped ceiling of his home where he wrote his historical, supernatural novels such as The Brothers, The Burning, and The Waterman.

Rob said: ''My dad Mick, who was a Guinness drinker, used to collect beer mats so it sparked my interest in them and I started doing it.

“When he died two years ago I inherited all of his too. Friends get them for me when they go on holiday too.

''I have about 900 now up on my wall. My wife wasn't keen having them on display in the house, so they have gone in my 'man cave' where I write.''

(Image: Peter Dyke)

The mats range from the 1960s to the present day and include rarities such as ones that promote cigarettes and cigars (something now banned) as well as yesteryear beers such as Skol, Wicked Lady, and Double Diamond.

Asked how many beers he had tasted out of the 900 ones on his wall, Rob, 58, said: ''I'd say 700. Every time I go to a pub, I like to try a new one.

“It's hard to pick a favourite beer mat but I love the ones that used Hagar The Horrible to advertise Skol.''

Despite the extensive collection, Rob still has a way to go to beat the world record which was set by an Austrian who had 152,000 beer mats.