Pinball lover restores 500 machines and claims retro games are making a comeback

Mark Squires, dubbed Dr Pinball, reckons the arcade favourite is making a comeback. He has so far restored more than 500 machines in his garage in Cambridgeshire

A pinball lover has restored more than 500 vintage machines in his garage.

Mark Squires, dubbed Dr Pinball, reckons the arcade favourite is making a comeback. He began fixing the machines as a teenage apprentice but set up The Pinball Surgery after retiring from marketing and management in 2016.

The 64-year-old says he only earns “a modest amount” from repairs, joking it pays for his beer. Mark, from Swavesey, Cambs, has owned more than 160 pinball machines over the year but says his wife has now banned them from their house.

“They’re good for the soul,” he says. “Pinball is thriving in the UK, kept alive by PC simulations and recreations of old games. There is that drive for people to rediscover their youth.”

Pinball machines were immortalised in The Who’s 1969 song Pinball Wizard.