ELTON John fan Dennis Grant shelled out a lot of money to fly to Las Vegas to see his hero before he knew the star was coming to Swindon.

The chairman of Swindon's Chamber of Commerce said: "I'm going to see him at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. If I'd known he was coming to Swindon I wouldn't have had to go all that way.

"We're lucky to get Elton John. I'm a passionate fan of his. He really is something else. His CDs are great but there's nothing like his live concerts.

"If he plays something like Crocodile Rock the crowd will make so much noise it will be heard all over Swindon.

"A lot of his songs are so poignant you can't fail to be moved.

"And he's a great songwriter. I'm convinced that on each CD he does one or two songs that are about his current thinking on life.

"There's a recent song called Blessed in which he refers to a child he will never have.

"You can hear from the way he sings it that he is talking about himself."

Another fan, Martin Stacey, 34, of Woodshaw in Wootton Bassett buys every CD that Elton releases, and has been a fan since the moment 20 years ago when he found a record that his parents had left lying around the house.

He said: "Some bands have come and gone but I never get bored with Elton John.

"I have a lot of respect for him. He seems to help a lot of people out and he's definitely a survivor."

People living near the County Ground, where Elton is due to perform on June 19, believe any disruption caused by 20,000 fans turning up will be well worth putting up with.

Rose Rzeznik, 53, a childminder in County Road, said: "I've lived here for 26 years and the football has never bothered me.

"The music might be a bit loud but we can put up with that for one evening."

Her neighbour Beryl Lutley, 65, a retired office manager, said: "The football doesn't disrupt my life at all so a concert won't either. And the County Road is always very well policed."

Celia Lanney, 60, of Shrivenham Road, a housewife, said: "I can't see any problems at all. I might even go to the concert."

David Rose, 47, a builder who also lives in Shrivenham Road, said: "I'm not worried about it at all.

"It's good because Swindon Town need the extra revenue. But if they moved the stadium to a new place they could attract even more of these concerts."

A Swindon police spokeswoman said it was too early to talk about arrangements for parking and transport,

She said: "We only received notification a few days ago and have not had the opportunity of meeting with the organisers."

Officials at Swindon Town believe the June event will be the first major concert to play at the ground.

Give us a call on 01793 501806 if you know of any major acts that have played at the ground in the past.

l Tickets for the Elton John concert are available from the Elton John 24-hour ticket hotline. Tickets for this fully reserved seated event are priced £60, £40 and £35 with a limited number of premium tickets also available. Tickets will be limited to six per customer. The hotline numbers are: 0870 060 3776; 0870 534 4444; 0870 444 5556.

David Andrew