"I'm like a pig in s*** here": The iconic south Manchester shop that inspired Noel and Liam Gallagher

"I'm like a pig in s*** here," declares Pete Howard, perched behind the same counter he has manned for almost half a century. Shelf after shelf of vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes surround him on all sides.

Above the shop's front door, a fading wooden sign reads: "New & used records bought & sold." In the window, posters advertise everything from computing classes to a house swap and an appeal to find a missing cat.

It may not look like it but Pete and his shop are part of musical history. The 76-year-old is perhaps best known by his nickname - Mr Sifter - named after his beloved second hand record shop in Fog Lane, Burnage.

READ MORE: Oasis make announcement amid feverish reunion speculation

Both Pete and his shop were immortalised when he was namechecked in Oasis’s 1994 single Shakermaker. Sifters was once a favourite of a young Noel and Liam Gallagher, who would visit the shop to buy records before becoming famous.

The brothers, who grew up in Burnage, loved the shop so much that they decided to write Mr Sifter into one of their earliest songs from their iconic debut album, Definitely Maybe. Three decades on, Sifters remains a Mecca for adoring Oasis fans, who make pilgrimages from far and wide. Even now, he's asked for autographs and selfies.

"You have to sign as Mr Sifter," he said. "It can't say Pete Howard, nobody's interested in that.

"A lot of them come from South Korea and Japan. It's all youngsters that come in. They [Oasis] were way before they were born, which is incredible really."

But to reduce Sifters to its Oasis links would be to do it a disservice. For 47 years, it's been a fixture of south Manchester and a haven for the city's record collectors.

A veritable treasure trove for music