A BEER can fan has been forced to sell off his huge collection after moving to Herefordshire.

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 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 - having previous lived in Clevedon for 33 years.

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

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He sold the remaining cans to a couple of Italian dealers who travelled all the way from Italy especially 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 ."

He and his wife, Deborah, 64, had to build an extension on a previous home to make space for the cans, and later moved into a large five-bedroomed Victorian house so he could have them on display.

Hereford Times: Nick West sold his collection to Italian collector SandroNick West sold his collection to Italian collector Sandro (Image: SWNS)

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.

But he has since sold the rest of his collection to beer can dealers, meaning he only has his favourite three left.

They are a Heineken 275ml dating to July 1975, a Hull Brewery Nut Brown Ale, and a 330ml can Nick West Ruby Ale that he designed in 2015.

Nick, who worked in marketing until retiring in 2017, started collecting at 16, with his oldest beer can dating back to 1936.