The first pint of beer to be brewed in Thame for more than a century will be served to Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce on Saturday.

Mr Bruce, who lives in nearby Towersey, will be guest of honour at the Cross Keys pub where he will enjoy a pint of Mrs Tipple’s Ghost from the new Thame Brewery set up on the premises by landlords Peter and Trudi Lambert.

The beer, a medium-strength bitter, is named after Daisy Tipple, a former landlady who ran the pub in the 1950s and whose picture still hangs by the bar.

Mr Lambert said: “Having never brewed beer before, I have been learning fast. Installing the equipment was a serious challenge, and I have never done so much plumbing in my life.

“At some stage in the past, all the pubs in Thame would have brewed their own beer. But it has been well over 100 years, and possibly 200 years, since any beer has been brewed commercially in the town.”

The Lamberts took over the Cross Keys owned by Thame-based Oak Taverns nine months ago when it was facing an uncertain future.

But since then they have transformed the fortunes on the pub turning it into a haven for real ale lovers.