He's seen them rocking all over the world and now one of Status Quo's biggest fans has realised a life-long ambition.

Not content with becoming a personal friend of the rockers following years of gig-going, Alan Crook is now over the moon after writing a song which features on the new album.

Now, his song Any Way You Like it, which features on the album Quid Pro Quo, is likely to become a household name across the world.

Mr Crook, 49, a full-time driver, from High Street, Brandon, who has been singing and song writing in his spare time for more than 30 years, said his aim had been to write a commercially viable song.

'This particular song I sent to their keyboard player about 18 months ago and about three months ago he said there was a very strong chance it was going to make it onto the new album,' he said.

'I was thinking about Quo's song Whatever You Want, which everybody knows, and tried to write something that was a bit commercial rather than about a particular subject. I wrote the lyrics and Andrew Bown [Quo keyboard player] got together with the bass player and they worked their magic and put a tune to it and changed a couple of lyrics, and there it is.'

Mr Crook uses his everyday life as inspiration for his songs and carries a dictaphone with him while he is driving. He said he was attracted to the band by their energy and ability to get people up on the dance floor at any occasion.

He added: 'It's amazing for me and though you try to keep your cool you do realise these are world famous, multimillionaire rock stars. If I'm in the area I'll give Andrew Bown a call and I've been round his house on numerous occasions and we go down the pub but I still get a bit star struck.'

Mr Crook, who is in a tribute band called Quo No!, is a regular at Status Quo gigs, first attending one of their concerts in 1977, and has seen them play 420 times. He is known by band members Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Andrew Bown, John 'Rhino' Edwards, and Matt Letley as part of a group of fans called the Rabble Bunch.

Most recently Mr Crook spent an hour backstage with the band at a gig in Holland and has also played in his tribute band alongside John Edwards' group Woodedz.

He said he had gradually got to know Status Quo over the years and added: 'It's through having seen them so many times and meeting them as they arrive, they've got to know me down the front of many concerts. We've gradually become friends. When I was in my teens I'd turn up early and have a chat with them while they were doing their sound check and then I'd hang around backstage afterwards. They're such a down-to-earth band and imply a certain amount of respect for our opinions and a certain amount of trust, which is nice. I've written songs for about 30 years and it's a life-long ambition to co-write a song with them. It's also an awesome album, the best in 25 years.'

Mr Crook is now planning to concentrate on his tribute band, but has not given up hope of more of his songs appearing on a Quo album.

He is also looking forward to seeing the band at Thetford Forest tomorrow.

It is the first of three gigs at High Lodge this week and Quo are followed on Friday by Erasure and Saturday by Simple Minds.