Sydney Scales found an easy way to make his pub popular - lock the doors and let everyone drink themselves silly.

He had just taken over the Langston Arms at Kingham, near Chipping Norton, and found bottles of out-of-date drink on a top shelf.

They were put on the bar and everyone was told that the doors would not be opened until every bottle was empty.

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The spirits and liqueurs were quickly despatched and Sydney became an instant hero.

His son, Mike, was serving in the Royal Navy on HMS Protector in the Falkland Islands in 1967 when he received a letter from his father saying that he was leaving London and going to manage the Langston Arms for Jack Bond, an old friend.

Mike recalls: “Jack had told the younger locals that a retired Army Major was going to arrive and keep good order.

“My father who resembled Captain Mainwaring, from Dad’s Army, duly arrived. The local lads came in and saluted him, taking the mickey when they ordered a drink.

“This carried on for a while until one Sunday night, when the bar was full of mainly local lads, he locked them in.

“He told them they were not to leave until all the out-of-date spirits and liqueurs from the top shelf had been consumed. He introduced himself and ensured a loyal following which lasted for many years.

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“The owner, Jack Bond, ever the publicist, put about the story of the Langston being haunted and got

Ian McCauley, a Scottish ex-Cavalryman, to float past the bar windows in a white sheet when the residents were engaged in late night drinks.

“There was the cattle market next door and on Fridays, the bar was open all day which my father enjoyed so much that he rarely saw Friday night to the end.

“Every late Friday afternoon, Jack would arrive by train from London at Kingham station with the latest records from the top 20 - he was the resident disc jockey.

“He got round the licensing laws to stay open to midnight by offering a basket meal which doubled as an entry ticket to the disco.

“The Langston advertised weekend breaks which included carriage drives and entry to the disco and was very popular throughout the mid-1960s to around 1972 when he sold it.

“It is now a residential care home, but was ahead of its time in bringing the swinging sixties to rural Oxfordshire.”

Mike followed his father into the pub trade after serving in the Royal Navy and working in the haulage industry.

He started as a roving landlord, looking after 35 pubs temporarily, before taking over the White Horse at Forest Hill, the Chequers at Headington, and the White Hart at Faringdon.

Later, he took on management posts with various breweries, including Whitbread and Oxford-based Morrells.

Now living in Kentisbeare, Devon, he led a campaign in 2008 to save his village pub and turn it into a community hub.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF