A pub landlord in Kent is Wimbledon’s biggest fan after camping out for a ticket for the past 32 years.

Harry Taylor, who owns The Red Lion in Bridge, near Canterbury, first pitched up for the Championships in 1992 - and says he has loved every second since.

The dedicated 50-year-old thinks the queueing system has changed a lot in the past three decades.

But the tennis lover added that it has always been worth braving the English weather to get in - and he's met some of his best friends in the famous queue.

“There are loads of tennis tournaments in the world, but Wimbledon is the greatest. If you don’t win Wimbledon, then you are nobody,” he said.

“It is the greatest tournament, you just have to go. Everyone is excited, the players are excited, and we in the queue are excited.

“It is incredible. The experience is hard to describe but it is one of the few places in the world where you can come and enjoy a tennis match for not too expensive a price, so anyone can come.

“I would never go camping to save my life, I only do it for Wimbledon.”

Mr Taylor claims that he is now the longest queuer after the previous reigning queue queen who started in 1990, died during the pandemic.

As the longest and most legendary queuer, he says that people are even asking for his autograph.

He added: “There are thousands of people in the queue, and some of them are my closest friends of more than 20 years that I met doing this.

“They come from all over the world. Some are from Australia, others from America and Belgium. The people who queue are all amazing.”

The tournament’s organisers are now used to having thousands of campers every year and have begun providing them with loos that are “better than Glastonbury toilets”.

The queue has also added numbered cards so people can’t jump the line, stewards checking the tents, phone chargers, and food stalls set up to feed them - all of which Mr Taylor says has hugely improved the experience.

He went on: “The queue is very well organised. We have our tents, blow-up beds, tables and chairs. It is like glamping really.

“I have to give Wimbledon credit they do amazing, they have made so many changes over the years since 1992 when I started camping on the road on a hard service.

“Years ago, when you joined the queue you could show up at seven or eight o’clock in the evening and the next morning you would get centre court. But it doesn’t happen like that anymore, unfortunately, now you have to queue for two nights.

“The queue has gotten bigger and bigger every year with people coming from all around the world.”

Mr Taylor, who used to play tennis himself at a club level, said he always takes a few of his pub employees with him to the tournament but was unable to this year due to post-Brexit staff shortages.

However, many ex-employees have been inspired to come join him in the queue having loved it so much when he brought them.