ONCE she couldn’t keep him out of her dressing room, but when Susan Lamb-Chapman tried to catch up with old pal Cliff Richard at a book signing she couldn’t get anywhere near him.

The 62-year-old former dancer who performed alongside the Young Ones star at the London Palladium in 1966, had hoped that Cliff’s appearance at the Trafford Centre would be the perfect chance to chat over old times.

She queued up with 1,000 other excited and tearful fans who flocked to the 67-year-old’s book signing at the Trafford Centre.

But after queuing two-and-a-half hours and still miles away from her old friend she gave up.

The pair appeared together in Cinderella between 1966 and ’67, where Cliff was playing the role of Buttons.

Sue, of Albert Hill Street, Didsbury, would spend hours talking to Cliff before donning her ballet shoes for her role as principal dancer in the show, which featured comedy legends Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd as the Ugly Sisters.

She said: "I’d spend countless times chatting to him in his dressing room – religion was very much at the forefront of his mind then.

"But he was a bit cheeky and used to do the same thing every Saturday evening and bring in a crate of wine for the ladies.

"I didn’t drink, but Cliff was always trying to get me to have some wine.

"Then on my 21st birthday he said ‘Right Sue, you’re having some wine on your birthday’, so I gave in and I was so tipsy I fell over on stage!

"When I was at school all the girls were crazy about Cliff Richard, but I hadn’t even heard of him at the time."

When she heard he was promoting his autobiography My Life, My Way just down the road, Sue decided it would be nice to reunite herself with her old friend.

"I wanted to get the book signed for my sister Viv as a surprise for her 60th birthday – she used to spend a lot of time talking to Cliff too.

"I wondered whether he would remember us, so I took along all my old photos from the show and the programme he signed for me. Cliff was lovely," Sue said.

Sue even called upon dependable Cliff, who had a series of hits with backing group The Shadows, when ‘ugly sister’ Terry Scott – of Terry and June fame – used to wind her up.

"Terry Scott used to pick me up and run after me, and I’d call out for Cliff to save me! Terry used to shout out - ‘there’s no use calling for God!"

Unfortunately, when she got to the WH Smiths signing, each fan was allowed to spend just six seconds in the company of their idol and Sue couldn’t get anywhere near. She said: "It was impossible, I queued for a couple of hours and I couldn’t even see him.

"I was disappointed, but some of the women were in tears. I guess it’s fair enough really, I’ve had hours and hours of chats with Cliff but most of the women who got to the end of the queue only had six seconds with him."

Sue went on to enjoy a brief pop career after joining a five piece group called Dark Secrets with her sister Viv Leather, who lives in West Didsbury.