Competition was hottest for front row seats

By the time the tickets went on sale on Sunday morning some people had been outside Sheffield Arena for nine days.

Dedicated fan Margaret McCleary from Newark slept on a sun lounger to make sure of front row seats for the concert which is not until November 2006.

"He's such a lovely person and he's so good to us," she said.

"At night I've been sleeping on the lounger under cover.

It's fantastic to think I'll be playing in all to hundreds of thousands of people Sir Cliff Richard

"But during the day we were allowed to go home as long as we were back for the evening."

"Once you've been on the front row you wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

The 65-year-old singer is playing two nights in Sheffield as part of a national tour.

Launching the tour, Sir Cliff said: "Next year's concerts around the UK and Ireland will be the first arena tour I've done for years and it's fantastic to think I'll be playing in all to hundreds of thousands of people."