IF THE secret to a long life is a 'quick half' down your local every night then Will Cann is testament to that.

So where else would he be on his 88th birthday but in the King's Arms in South Zeal, celebrating 70 years of drinking in the same pub?

The octogenarian, whose tipple is good old scrumpy, is such a legend he even has his own chair in the corner under the clock where his half pint of cider is served up to him.

'I could have bought the pub with all the money I have spent there over the years,' said the Spreyton-born Will.

He first tasted cider at the age of eight when his father let him drink it straight from the firkin, but it was not until the day of his 18th birthday that he experienced it in a half pint glass from the bar.

'Nobody dared go in the pub before they were 18 because in those days the policeman knew everybody's birthday,' said Will, a former farmer who also worked for the water board and the old Okehampton Borough Council as a labourer.

'Many times I drank too much of the cider but nowadays I stick to a half because I have diabetes,' he said.

It is only the poor weather that keeps Will away from his local, which is five doors up from the house in which he lives with his son, Bill Cann, a county councillor and daughter-in-law, Christine.

Most of his old drinking pals may have passed on, but Will is still a hit with the 'youngsters' who drink in the King's Arms.

'Owing to my age I don't really know any of their names but if their granfers walked in I would know them,' he said. 'I hear all the conversations and it is how I keep up with all the news.'

Will has seen many changes in the pub. 'We used to play dominos and crib but I never see that anymore,' he said.

'What I really miss is the singing — nearly every night someone used to burst out in song and it was accompanied by the concertina or mouth organ. Of course the cider was stronger then and only 3p a pint.'

The King's Arms regular will, however, no longer have to worry about putting his hand in his pocket because from now on all his drinks are free!

The gesture has been made by landlord Richard Penny who described Will as a 'brilliant chap'.

'Will is held in great esteem in this pub — everybody always looks after him and talks to him whilst he sits in the corner and soaks up the atmosphere,' he said.

At a special party held for the birthday boy to which many of his old friends turned up, he was also presented with an inscribed tankard from Heavitree Brewery

Another day the cider will surely be flowing is on Boxing Day when Will and his wife, Annie, a resident at Aalen Housing Nursing Home, celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary.