The landlord of one of Hazlemere's newest and most popular pubs said screening the Euros to packed-out crowds was 'challenging' at times - but also showed the 'community atmosphere' he has worked hard to build over the last year.

Jason Noble had big plans for The Beech Tree on Amersham Road in Hazlemere when he took over its ownership last August alongside business partner Chris Lewis, daughter Lily and her partner Archie.

Speaking to the Free Press in the autumn, he said the now-thriving boozer was "like a bomb site" on his first visit but detailed plans to "maximise its space throughout the day", with a range of events from live music to coffee mornings and Muay Thai classes.

Nearly a year on, and his hopes of "setting us apart from other pubs in the area" seem eerily prescient - as shown by the massive oversubscription of the Euros final on July 14, with up to a thousand people flooding the beer garden to watch the game on a huge outdoor screen that has become a permanent fixture. 

As can be the case with die-hard sports fans, tensions escalated during the England v Spain match and police were forced to break up a scuffle during the nail-biting second half.

Staff were also advised to temporarily stop serving alcohol in an attempt to manage the unprecedented number of pubgoers packed into the venue - both signs of the not-insignificant challenge faced by Jason and his team in repeatedly stretching their relatively small operation thin to cater for each new qualifier.

In the chaos of July 14, a big speaker was even stolen from The Beech Tree's beer garden - one of the "minor incidents" the landlord referred to in a post in a local Facebook group this month, describing it as "a shame" that "some (people) tried to spoil the community atmosphere we have worked so hard to build".

Nonetheless, he said it had been "humbling" to see the extent of local support for the family business, something he "could not have imagined" when he first walked into that "bomb site" last August.

Adding: "Running a pub these days is not the easiest of businesses, but as we near our first anniversary, I would just like to thank everyone once again for all the support."

Just last night (July 26), The Beech Tree screened the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics - so it's safe to say that raucous football fans haven't managed to dent Jason's enterprising spirit.