Congratulations as camping fans get Cliff Richard tickets

The wait is over for scores of Cliff Richard fans who were among the first to get concert tickets for his shows at Birmingham's LG Arena.

Fans camped out in a car park for a week and braved cool nights and rain to be the first in line as the box office opened yesterday.

First in the queue for The Soulicious Tour tickets was Eric Pemberton of Loggerheads, near Market Drayton, Shropshire who queued since 7.30am last Sunday as a surprise for his wife Kath, a lifelong Cliff Richard fan who was away on holiday with friends.

Mr Pemberton, aged 71, a scuba diving teacher, who got three tickets for Birmingham and two front row tickets for Nottingham, said: " She doesn't know I've done this, all she knows is that I have managed to get tickets, I think she will be delighted."

Wife and husband Sally and George Rab set up their tent at 9am the previous Sunday after travelling from their home in Fradley, near Lichfield.

Mrs Rab, 52, said she has seen Sir Cliff in concert hundreds of times, including in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

She has camped on virtually every occasion to buy tickets, once in thick snow outside the Royal Albert Hall, London and once for three weeks. Yesterday she bought six tickets for herself and friends for both Birmingham nights.

She said: "There was rain, my tent got a bit wet, but it was worth it to get the tickets eventually."

Anne Dudley of Parkfields, Wolverhampton, queued since Thursday. The Soulicious Tour sees Sir Cliff sing his hits as well as duets with his soul guests. He is at the LG Arena on October 22 and 23.

Part of the car park was specifically for Cliff fans camping. Fans could leave their tents unoccupied but had to be with them between 8pm and 6am.