THERE were rumblings after dark when computer game fans from across Europe converged upon a Bury internet cafe.

Dedicated players of the three dimensional combat adventureQuake were in town for a meeting of minds at Bolton Street's Glinternet Cafe at the weekend (Aug 24-26).

The 48-hour event, running from Friday night to Sunday night, drew in nearly 40 games fans from Scandinavia, Holland, France, Germany and across the UK, including enthusiasts from Bury.

When not battling it out against each other, or on-line opponents further afield, players took time out to sample town centre pubs and restaurants or curl up for a quick nap in their sleeping bags. An extra upstairs room was converted with extra web access points installed to accommodate everyone.

Owner of the cafe Mr Paul Campbell is now hoping that the meetings become a regular event.

He said: "These people are very dedicated. A lot of them work in the computer industry and this is their way of relaxing. For them it was a social event as well and they had a whale of a weekend.

"It's been difficult for them to hold an event like this in the UK because to get 30 computers on-line in the same building with high speed access isn't easy.

"They enjoyed it so much that they were already talking about coming back and we are looking to do this on a more regular basis."