Beer can enthusiast sells remainder of £25,000 collection

A MAN has been forced to sell the UK’s largest collection of beer cans for £25,000 after it got so big his house needed an extension.

Nick West, 65, had been gathering an impressive collection of unusual and rare cans for 42 years and had amassed 10,300 of them at his peak.

The father-of-two from North Somerset initially made the “heartfelt” decision to trim down his £25,000 collection to just 1,500.

But two years ago, the couple moved to Ledbury, Herefordshire from Langford, in North Somerset.

Moving to a smaller home meant Mr West had to finally sell the remaining 1,497 cans because the couple had no space left for them.

And he has now been left with just three in his once booming collection.

He sold the remaining cans to a couple of dealers who travelled all the way from Italy to collect his precious collection.

Mr West said: “I first started collecting cans in 1976 and was extremely passionate about it, so it was a massive wrench to see the last part of my lifetime’s work disappear out of the door.

“I found it tricky to let them go.”

When Mr West had his impressive collection of 10,300 ‘tinnies’, he and his wife, Deborah, 64, had to build an extension on a previous home to make space for the cans.

They also later moved into a large five-bedroom Victorian house so he could have them on display.

Though when they moved to a smaller house, he sold 6,000 of the cans for a sum of £13,500, which is helping to fund his retirement.

A further 1,800 cans were given to local museum Oakham Treasures in Portbury, Bristol, leaving him with just 1,500.

Of the three cans that he chose to keep, Mr West saied: “The first is a Heineken 275ml (a half pint).

“This was the first can in my collection and dates back to July 13, 1975.

“The second can is again 275ml Hull Brewery Nut Brown Ale: I kept this one because I really like the simplicity of the design – definitely a blast from the past.

“The final can is a 330ml can Nick West Ruby Ale – I designed this myself to celebrate my 40 years of collecting, in 2015.

“I commissioned a small run of 50 cans containing a variety of different beers.”