THE landlord of a pub has vowed to save Britain from running out of Nigels by staging the 'world's biggest' Nige-fest at his pub.
Nigel Smith, who is the landlord at Fleece Inn, in Bretforton, was left feeling shocked after the Office for National Statistics revealed that no babies called Nigel were born in 2016 or 2020.
The 58-year-old has been inviting Nigels from across the world to join him for a celebratory knees-up since 2016.
A total of 432 Nigels from all over the world came to the pub for Nige-fest.
Attendees brought photo ID and signed The Book of Nigel to make a list for Guinness to verify their new record.
The landlord said: “It started as a laugh to get Nigels together. We are going extinct in 2019. There were no Nigels registered in 2016 so I thought it would be a good idea to get us all together.
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“But as a child of the sixties, it takes me a while to get around to things. As the idea grew I decided to host this event and go for the record.
“In the year I was born, 1963, there were over 5,000 Nigels born. It was peak, Nigel.
"At school, I used to have the mickey taken out of me. I’ve got two children and none are called Nigel.
“I think names are cyclical and it’s gone out of fashion. A lot of people don’t like the name.
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“It’s possible the Nigel who shall not be named, Nigel Farage, has had an impact.
“A man who changed his name from Nigel to Niall came and we convinced him to pull himself together.
“We raised money for the British Heart Foundation because us Nigels are getting to a certain age."
Since Nigel Night, Mr Smith has been on two Australian and one New Zealand radio station.
"A total of 432 Nigels turned up. One Nigel from California happened to be in the UK and came and another travelled over from Texas."
“People also came from all over the country - from Newcastle, Cornwall and even a few from Scotland. "
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