ROVERS fan Robert Quail shelled out £400 for two £25 tickets to watch England's World Cup opener against Tunisia today.

But car electrician Robert, who lives in Hoghton, reckons they were well worth it, and his money has gone to a good cause.

The tickets were first won by Keith Dickinson in a competition at Barretts electrical store in Mill Hill, Blackburn.

But Keith hates football, so he left them for the store to auction for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

Kind-hearted Keith, of Elim Gardens, Mill Hill, said: "I'm glad we've raised so much. Now someone will benefit from the money and a real fan will have the pleasure of watching the match."

Now Robert, aged 25, is in France and will stay on the Continent for three weeks to catch one of the quarter finals. He said: "I was thrilled to bits when they said the tickets were mine.

"It's everything I've ever wanted and I've been building up to this for two years."

Robert said his girlfriend Kelly tried to order tickets through Blackburn Rovers for his birthday, but the French authorities put a block on it and said they would have to join the English FA to get them.

"By the time we joined, tickets had already been allocated to other members," Robert said.

"We tried the World Cup hotlines but still couldn't get England tickets. I don't even fancy England's chances much and I was gutted that Gazza was left out. But I'm just chuffed to bits that I can watch them."

Store director John Barrett said: "We had about 10 serious bids. Some people bid twice, but I didn't tell each caller what the highest bid was because it wouldn't have been fair.

"If we were in London we would probably have been looking at megabucks, but the amount we got was excellent anyway."

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