WITH more than 11,500 fans inside the Metro Radio Arena to witness Cliff Richard, there was he still has a huge following – and on the evidence of this, he deserves it.

Sir Cliff is celebrating a remarkable 50 years in the music industry and this is a tour designed to remind us all of his charttopping music.

The atmosphere before the show was amazing, with the vast majority reminiscing about his younger days and what it used to be like. But, when he opened with his first-ever song, Move, which hit number two in the charts, it was clear he wanted to dance around to belie his pensioner age.

He wore a bright pink jacket for Living Doll, which reached number one and by the time he belted out Wired for Sound, the atmosphere in the Arena was electric.

The classics were all there – The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, Congratulations – and the audience were amazed by his performance, and all dancing to his tune.

There were some sombre moments, most notably when he sang the Miss You Nights track he sang to Gloria Hunniford’s daughter, Karen, before she died.

Cliff has just celebrated his 67th birthday and if you didn’t know how old he was you would think, judging by his singing, he was still in his teens. He entertained for well over two and a half hours – just as he did when I used to see him in Stockton when I was a teenager. Congratulations.

Carole Fraser