Derbyshire pub's parking space for tractors is a hit

A pub landlord said a parking space created for tractors had been well used - despite the brewery thinking he was "a few sandwiches short of a picnic".

Rick Ellison requested the space during a refurbishment after noticing tractors not being able to fit in normal parking spaces at the Derbyshire pub.

He said the tractor space had become a talking point, and some people took photos of their tractors parked there.

One 16-year-old even used a tractor to take his girlfriend for a meal.

"There was a 16-year-old who lives in the village, and the only thing he can drive is a tractor," said Mr Ellison.

"He had this massive beat-up old Ferguson, and his girlfriend was perched on the footplate.

"I think she was put out by the mode of transport but it was quite fun."

Mr Ellison has run the Anchor Inn in Tideswell since 2016, and the tractor parking space was created in March 2022.

"When I first came in [eight years ago], a fella arrived with a muck spreader, which was the most bizarre thing I'd seen in a pub car park," he said.

"It took up three spaces, and I thought, 'wouldn't it be good if you had a space that could fit a tractor and a muck spreader?'

"The brewery who own the pub, when they were going to do a full refurb, I persuaded them to do the car park as well, and I managed to talk them into putting this tractor bay in."

He believes it is "the world's first pub tractor bay".

It is the same width as a disabled parking bay but is half a space longer.

Mr Ellison said it was normally used by modern large tractors, but sometimes by vintage ones.

However, despite having parking for ploughmen, Mr Ellison said the pub did not actually sell a ploughman's lunch.

"With the farms around us mainly having cattle or sheep, we tend to be more famous for steak and ale pie or roast dinners," he added.

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