Help wanted: Drinking buddy for lonely dad

LONDON (AFP) — The son of a retired widower has placed an advertisement looking for someone to have a few drinks with his father at a local pub for seven pounds (nine euros, 14 dollars) an hour.

Jack Hammond, 88, and his son, Michael, will begin interviewing candidates for the position soon, after Michael posted the advertisement at their local post office in Hampshire, southern England.

The elder Hammond used to go to his local pub four times a week in Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, with his neighbour, but had to stop the practice recently when he moved into a nursing home closer to the rest of his family.

"When you put an advertisement in a ...