THOUSANDS of Blackburn Rovers fans took the first step on the road to the Worthington Cup final -- by queueing round the block for tickets over the weekend.

Fans braved stormy weather when the Ewood Park ticket office opened at 9am on Saturday and at one time an estimated 2,000 were waiting to be served - many of them sitting out of the rain in the Walkersteel stand.

One person was at the ground at 2.00am to ensure his place among the thousands expected to flood to the Millennium stadium in Cardiff on February Sunday 24.

City centre accommodation is already booked up for the Saturday evening and the central tourist information service is warning that reservations are now being transferred to Bath and Swansea.

Coaches will leave Ewood Park from 7am on matchday. A club spokesperson said: "Bookings will continue until every member is catered for and we expect to provide more than 100 coaches."

Information on travel reservations, priced at £22 for travel club members and £23 for non-members, from 01254 698 888.

For those travelling by car to the game with Spurs there will be park and ride schemes in operation from Bridgend, Abergavenny and Chepstow.

Additional rail services include the 10.55 Crewe - Cardiff arriving at 1.30pm . Compulsory reservationscan be obtained with APEX and SuperAdvance tickets priced at £29.00 and £35.00 respectively. The service connects with Virgin Trains' 09.57 Preston to London Euston service at Crewe.

Organised coach hire through a number of independent firms is still available including £900 for a 49 seater with Atlantis Travel or £650 for a 33 seater with Coastlinks Express.

Charter flights have been arranged for the game through Imaginations Air Travel and include coach transfers to and from local areas and the Cardiff Millennium Stadium. Contact 01254 298366 for further details.

The Northern Belle train has also been chartered by Accrington-based travel specialists Fraser Eagle to take 250 supporters to the stadium in luxury.

Passengers travelling on Saturday on normal timetabled train services will be able to purchase APEX/SuperAdvance tickets, valid on First North Western, Central Trains, Wessex Trains and Wales & Borders Trains services via Manchester, from Blackburn or Preston in advance.