Broadcaster, Peter White, is about to take on the challenge of running a pub in his home town of Winchester.

The BBC's disability affairs correspondent, who also has a regular Saturday breakfast show on BBC Radio Solent, is taking over the lease of the Mash Tun in Eastgate Street in partnership with the landlords of another city pub.

Winchester-born and blind from birth, Peter says he will be running it with his two sons, his daughter and his son-in-law, who have all worked extensively in the pub trade.

They are aiming to bring more of a "family" feel to what has traditionally been an almost exclusively "student" pub.

"I've always fancied running a Winchester pub," says Peter.

"Ever since I started playing pub piano during school holidays to make a bit of extra money, I've always felt at home in them. But, over recent years, pubs have rather lost their way.

"People seem to want to make them so formulaic that they lose their sense of identity and cater for only one part of the community. We want a pub which will welcome all types of people - families, older people, the students who already use it: indeed, anyone who enjoys good beer, wine, company and good entertainment, whatever their age."

The lease has been taken over in partnership with Janusz and Jane Wisniewski, who have revitalised the Albion in Stockbridge Road.

Peter says he will continue with his broadcasting career even though he is intending to take a significant part in managing the pub.

"I see my role as being the pub's ears," he said. "I'll be spending much of my time propping up the bar, in order to listen to what customers like and don't like.

"When you're rushing around trying to provide people with a good service, you can't always absorb what's going well and what's going pear-shaped. However, on quiet nights, assuming we have any, I may well venture behind the bar to pull the odd pint, another of my cherished ambitions.

"I'm not sure whether I'll be the country's only blind barman, but there can't be that many around.

"Our intention is to maintain the pub's good points - good live music, a sense of individuality - but to make sure that the people of Winchester feel it's a pub where anyone would enjoy a lunchtime drink or an evening out."

After closing briefly for a quick spring clean, brush up, and coat of paint, The Mash will re-open on Friday, July 9th with a barbecue in the garden.

"In the longer-term, we would like the opportunity to refurbish the pub, make the garden more family-friendly, and provide good food, while always maintaining its reputation as a genuine traditional pub which provides good beer, good music, and good conversation," said Peter.

"We think there are a lot of older Winchester people who live in that area who have thought for a long time that this pub isn't for them. We would like them back as customers."