Bitter Blow for British Pub Vying to Be World's Smallest

British villagers who tried to create the world's smallest pub by converting a disused red telephone box into an alehouse were served a bitter blow Monday when record-keepers barred their entry.

People in the village of Shepreth, eastern England, set up The Dog and Bone pub in the three-feet (90-centimeter) square ex-phone box for just one night, calling time when the only barrel serving drinkers ran dry.

The tiny watering hole was established as part of a campaign to save the real village pub, The Plough. It has already closed after being turned into a restaurant but locals want to stop it being turned into an ordinary house.

Guinness World Records said Monday that The Dog and Bone could not be crowned the world's smallest pub for several reasons, including that it was not licensed to serve alcohol and it did not keep regular opening hours.

"The phone box pub did not qualify to the record for the smallest pub because it failed to match our record guidelines," said a Guinness statement.

The smallest permanent licensed bar remains the Smallest Whisky Bar on Earth in Graubunden, Switzerland, which has a floor area of 8.53 meters (91.82 feet) square, said Guinness.

"It's a bitter blow to discover that we won't be record breakers," said Richard Handford, who is helping run the campaign to save The Plough.

"Pity The Plough's not open -- we could drown our sorrows."