Die-hard Cliff fans camp out for tickets

Oct 17 2007 By Nick Mccarthy, Birmingham Mail

DIE-hard Cliff Richard fans spent a cold, wet night outside Birmingham's NIA to secure precious tickets which went on sale today for his shows in the city next year.

Tickets for the November 2008 concerts went on sale at 9am, but around 50 people started setting up camp at 1pm yesterday and that group had swelled to around 150 by 8am today.

They were in high spirits this morning and even had their own raffle ticket system for securing places in the queue.

Ticket holder number one for the £45 and £50 tickets was Jenny Watson, from Aldridge, who turned up at 1pm yesterday.

The retired 64-year-old widow, who has two grown-up children and one granddaughter, has followed Cliff all over Europe for 40 years.

"He only does a tour every two years, so if you want any kind of decent tickets you have to get here as early as possible," she said.

"It has been raining heavily, but we were under one of the canopies. There are quite a few of us who know each other really well now."

Also in the queue was 32-year-old Alison Hadley, from Walsall. She works at the NIA in security and has followed Cliff all over the UK.

She said: "I have not been following Cliff as long as some here. I have been a big fan since 2000 and I just love his music.

"I have had to take a day off to queue overnight, but I know it will be worth it."

Another pair met while queueing in 2001. Margaret Hodgettes, a married accounts clerk from Great Barr, admitted feeling a little cold.

The 61-year-old married mother-of-two and grandmother-of-one said: "I have been a fan since I was 14 or 15 and I know it will be worth all of the cold."

Her friend, Dianne Fairbanks, joined her to secure numbers six and seven in the queue.

The 52-year-old, from Brownhills, had the morning off as a secretary at Walsall's Manor Hospital.

She added: "It was a fantastic night, but it was bit cold. It will be worth it when we get hold of the tickets." n Tickets for the shows at the NIA, on November 20, 22 and 23, 2008 are priced at £50 and £45.

Call 0871 945 6000 or see www.theticketfactory.com for details.