Staff at Burnley's Royal Dyche pub given chance to 'call time' on drinks to secure tickets for Oasis reunion gig ahead of Clarets v Rovers East Lancs Derby

Justine Bedford, who owns the Royal Dyche, announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she would be allowing any of her bar staff to abandon their posts tomorrow morning, a big day for the town as the Clarets are playing Blackburn Rovers at the Turf, if they wish to try and get tickets for the Oasis reunion gig next year. The tweet went viral, clocking up over 300,000 views.

Justine said: “I’ve given staff who want to get tickets the opportunity to abandon the bar - but I will still have a team left on as it is expected to be our busiest day ever.

“Myself and a lot of my staff are big fans of Oasis and it is part of our matchday playlist. That is what we will be having on the jukebox and I think it is important for us all to have that chance to get tickets.”

Normally opening at noon, Justine secured permission to open early, at 8am, to serve Burnley fans ahead of the big East Lancashire derby which kicks off at 12.30pm. Staff will be able to try for tickets to see the Gallagher brothers in a 15 minute window from 8.50am.

Named as Licensee of the Year by the British Institute of Innkeeping, Justine had to attend a special hearing of the licensing committee at Burnley Town Hall after police rejected her application to open early. She said: “Last time we played Rovers over 100 people were queueing to get in. We were so overwhelmed before we even opened and I didn’t want that happening this time.

“I’ve been here for 11 years and built up a great reputable pub. Having just won Licensee of the Year why would I risk all that for an ‘extra hour of trade? The extra hour was all about keeping hundreds of people off Yorkshire Street and lowering the stress levels for my staff. We have a great bar team and three brilliant doormen.

“We are looking forward to a great pre-match atmosphere. We will have Raidy’s food van outside when we open at 8am serving breakfast butties.”