Fans of popular 1980s TV show Auf Wiedersehn Pet join forces to save Redmile pub where scenes were filmed

The Windmill Inn, at Redmile, was a favourite watering hole for characters in Auf Wiedersehn, Pet played by actors such as Jimmy Nail, Kevin Whately and Timothy Spall and is visited by hundreds of devotees of the show every year.

But the Main Street pub is up for auction at the end of next month and the programme’s fans are concerned it may be redeveloped and lost as a pub.

Lee Barratt, who helps run the official Auf Wiedersehn, Pet fan website www.auf-pet.com, told the Melton Times: “We heard the pub was up for auction and someone said to us ‘why don’t you try and buy it’.

“At first we thought it was a mental idea but we are going to try and do it.

“That pub is one of the most popular locations from the series and we want to keep it as a pub.

“It gets visited by at least 1,000 fans every year who know it as a filming location from the show.”

The guide price for the pub is £475,000 and fans have enlisted the help of a website which specialises in helping communities buy pubs to safeguard them for future generations.

Lee added: “We can reach 250,000 people through our fans website and there are people all over the country and abroad who loved the programme and might want to get involved.

“A lot of people don’t believe we can do it but we’ve got to try.

“It’s a gastropub and we wouldn’t want to change anything about it if we are able to buy it.

“We just want to keep the pub going so fans of the series can continue going along to visit it.”

Auf Wiedersehn, Pet, which followed the adventures of Oz, Dennis, Neville, Barry, Moxey, Bomber and Wayne on building sites in the UK and abroad, was first aired on ITV in the 1980s and revived in 2002 and 2004 with many of the scenes from the earlier shows shot in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.