Your doctor may be at the pub

LONDON- A pint of ale and a checkup, please.

That could be the order in Britain's village pubs under a government proposal to locate doctors' offices, job centers and post offices in unused rooms at local watering holes, according to The Daily Telegraph .

As the focal point for many rural communities, pubs would be ideal sites for such services, according to a Rural Development Commission plan aimed at revitalizing rural life.

The commission is seeking government grants for village pubs so they can open unused rooms and outbuildings for the good of the community.

Nearly half the 9,000 rural communities examined, all with populations of less than 10,000, have no post office and 80 percent have no doctor's office, the Telegraph said. Almost none have job or benefit centers.