Russell Watson fans from Cheshire form post office ticket queue

Fans of singer Russell Watson queued for hours outside a village post office that doubled as distributor of tickets for his Christmas show.

In December, Watson, who lives in Congleton Edge, Cheshire, is performing over two nights in the nearby village of Astbury.

Jane Bostock-Gibson, from Hightown Post Office, Congleton, offered to handle sales, opening the store on a Sunday.

Long queues followed which she described as "havoc" but good fun.

The tenor, who has performed for royalty, a pope and a US president, held a festive concert in Astbury last year in aid of a local church, Ms Bostock-Gibson said.

With the singer "just being up the road and being a community person", she explained, she offered to sell this year's tickets, with all money again going to the church.

"I knew there'd be big demand," she said, "but I didn't think they'd sit and wait outside my little post office for it."

Of the brisk trade, she added: "I got here at 8:45 and there were people stood outside waiting then - it was worse than Stoke [City] going to Wembley.

"So I opened the door at 10:10 and I sat on my chair with the seating plan and I didn't move until 13:40 - I didn't have a drink or go to the loo."

The queue caused quite a stir, with those not in the know asking what was going on, she explained.

"They thought I was running coach trips or something, or 'there's got to be a football match', or Congleton Town were playing away or something. It was really good fun."

But she said she was not entirely surprised with the response because she knew how popular the performer was locally, especially being so visible in the area.

She said customers had stories of meeting him on previous occasions at the church and seeing his wife riding a horse nearby too.

All tickets for the concerts on 20 and 21 December were sold out, Ms Bostock-Gibson said, but two would be raffled by the local vicar at a craft fair next weekend.

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