WORLD Cup fever took over Bury town centre as hundreds of sticker-collecting football fans attended a swap shop on The Rock.

More than 5,000 stickers were up for grabs at the Panini Sticker Swap session, which was organised by The Rock Shopping Centre and Tower FM, on Saturday afternoon.

Hundreds of avid collectors, of all ages, turned out to get their hands on the elusive stickers they each required to complete their collections.

The stickers available ranged from the World Cup’s biggest stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar to lesser known faces.

And while they queued up to get their hands on stickers, people took the chance to swap between themselves.

The crowds were also entertained by a football freestyler who was present throughout the afternoon.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, centre director at The Rock, said: “The event was a great success.

“We decided to hold it because we know how popular the sticker albums are but after reading it could cost up to £700 to fill one, we wanted to get involved and make sure everybody could try and fill their books.

“I used to collect them when I was a boy so it seemed like a good idea.

“We have just done a fashion show and a royal wedding event so we thought it would be nice to do something for the World Cup.”

Panini has been creating World Cup sticker albums since 1970, and its popularity remains as high as ever.

But with World Cup action now well under way in Russia, collectors will have just a few weeks remaining to complete the full set of stickers.