Grandad nicknamed Dr Pinball has fixed over 500 retro gaming machines in arcades

Take a look inside The Pinball Surgery - a place where a grandad known as ‘Dr Pinball’ repairs, renovates and services the retro games and said many are returning to play to "relive their youth".

Mark Squires, 64, has fixed more than 500 machines and owned around 180 himself - but his wife says he’s not allowed to bring the nostalgic games into the house. Mr Squires, from Swavesey, Cambs, fell in love with pinball while working as an electronics apprentice after he left school and has worked on them ever since.

Repairing arcade games on the coast

The retiree who used to work in marketing and communications said: "When you're an apprentice, they give you a brown coat. As I would walk into arcades on the coast to repair the machines, I had the coat on wanting to look nice and clean. People would say: 'Here he goes - Dr Pinball'. “

When he retired in 2016, he took his passion and turned it into The Pinball Surgery, working out of the double garage of his home. "My wife doesn’t let the machines in the house. We've lived here 45 years now and when we first met she was keen - but over the years her love has waned."

Best pinball games are ‘ones that work’

Mr Squires joked that his favourite machines were the 'ones that work' but he loves the 90s Medieval Madness machine based on Monty Python. He also likes the Paragon pinball machine, based on Conan the Barbarian, and said the artwork, often done by students, is 'amazing'.

Retro games in sheds

Mr Squires added: "There's a big social aspect of people getting together to play and there's a whole part of the community who consider them a competitive sport. There's a retro drive with men in their sheds recreating what they did at their student union bar. Pinball has been proven to be very good for people."

Mr Squires work has also been featured on the TV show Salvage Hunters: The Restorers.