Eastleigh garage transformed into pub reaches final of Pub Shed of the Year

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A couple from Eastleigh converted their single garage into a garden pub during lockdown. Credit: ITV Meridian

A couple from Eastleigh, who transformed their garage into a pub, are in the running for Pub Shed of the Year 2024.

Kev, 55, and Gina Marchant, 54, came up with the idea for the pub at their home on Monks Way, in October 2020.

The converted garage is now a pub called 'The Winchester', after the city the couple both grew up in. Credit: ITV Meridian

The couple both grew up in the city of Winchester, which, alongside the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead, inspired the pair to call their pub 'The Winchester'.

It took Kev, who's in the trade industry, about a month to complete the project, with help from some of his friends during the Covid lockdown.

WATCH: Kev Marchant describes how people react when seeing the pub for the first time

Kev said: "During lockdown obviously everyone couldn't go anywhere, so our initial thought was, 'if we can't go to the pub, let's bring the pub to us'.

"We go out in the motorhome and we stop off at lots of places. When we find an antique market, car boot sale or quirky shop - we always have a look.

"If we find something that's fitting for the pub, we grab it."

The couple designed the pub to look like a 'Working Men's Club'. Credit: ITV Meridian

Kev said he went for a traditional 'Working Men's Club' look as he had fond memories of enjoying them in his younger days.

They describe their pub as "the best thing we did", with it the perfect setting for birthday parties and poker nights with their friends.

Kev and Gina have made it to the final three of the national pub competition, which has now gone to a public vote.

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