Report by NATALIE BOWYER natalie.bowyer@archant.co.uk A CHARITY auction of rare football memorabilia is to take place in 2008 to raise money for the Warren Hay Road Safety Action Group. Organised by T

Report by NATALIE BOWYER

natalie.bowyer@archant.co.uk

A CHARITY auction of rare football memorabilia is to take place in 2008 to raise money for the Warren Hay Road Safety Action Group.

Organised by The Hunts Post, the live auction, which will also feature online bidding, will include items donated by top football clubs from across England and Wales.

One of the most sought-after items is likely to be a football signed by the Chelsea team, but football fans will also want to get their hands on one of the signed football shirts, bid to take a tour around a Championship side's stadium, or fight it out for some of the match day tickets we have.

Items already secured for the auction have been donated by clubs such as Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Sheffield United, Manchester City and Wolves right down to the teams in the lower leagues such as Port Vale, Walsall and Barnet.

We even have some Chelsea matchday programmes dating from the 60s and 70s.

Proceeds from the auction will be used to help the action group which was set up in May following the death of football mad Alconbury teenager, Warren Hay.

Since forming, the group have collected more than 17,000 signatures to push for safety improvements on the A141 in Huntingdon, where Warren was knocked down by a car and killed.

Warren's mother, Maxine, is leading the campaign for a safe crossing over the A141.

She told The Hunts Post she was flattered by the generosity shown by the football clubs and hoped the auction would raise a lot of money for the campaign.

Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to a £160,000 safety scheme which would see a ban on right turns into and out of the King's Ripton junction on the A141 and a traffic island. However, they have also said they would upgrade the scheme to a light controlled crossing if money was put forward by Huntingdonshire District Council and Huntingdon Town Council and from the action group.

Warren Hay was a huge Chelsea supporter and his cousin is the Chelsea's reserve team captain, Jimmy Smith. The club has pledged their support to the campaign and will feature a tribute piece to Warren in the matchday programme on Saturday when they take on Newcastle.

INFORMATION: The date and venue of the auction will be published in The Hunts Post and on www.huntspost24.co.uk

To make a donation to the Warren Hay Road Safety Action Group or to sign their petition, phone John Dunleavy on 01480 350507.