CAREER-MINDED Claudia Johnstone turned down a university place to take up a post as Preston North End's ticket office manager - at the age of just 18.

The successful former Cardinal Newman college student passed her A Levels with flying colours and was all set to study - but after a couple of sackings and a resignation at the club she was offered the job ... and leapt at the chance.

Claudia, of Walton-le-Dale, said: "I was going to go to university. It was all planned. But perhaps there wouldn't have been a job at the end of it.

"So I thought myself lucky to be offered one and I can always go university in years to come."

But by Claudia's own admissions, the job is not an easy one after the recent staffing problems and hundreds of complaints from fans about the way the ticket office was run.

She said: "It's been terrible. At first I was the only one left of four people who knew how to run the office.

"It was just constant queues and we weren't equipped. We had new staff in who at the time didn't know anything."

Recent problems included long queues and people sat in each other's seats and other slip ups, but she believes everything is getting better.

Claudia said: "Things are turning around. We're the first point of contact with the fans and there's a lot of changes going on.

"They can get quite abusive at times. I get angry at some of them sometimes and think they're not real football fans but we've to realise a lot of them take it very seriously - it's their life. But they do need to be patient."

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