Fans swap home for match tickets

The couple will trade tickets for a stay at their home

A rugby-mad couple are swapping their five-bedroom home for tickets to a vital match in Ireland.

Ralph Hole, 51, from Cheltenham, was so desperate to see his team - Gloucester - playing Munster in the Heineken Cup that he booked the flights straight away.

But to his horror, he discovered tickets for the match were already sold out.

Then inspiration struck - he could offer bed and board at his five-bedroom home over the Cheltenham Gold Cup weekend in March - in return for spare tickets.

Gold Cup

He put an advert in the local paper in Limerick, calling for takers - and has been inundated with offers.

Now the engineer and his wife Kathy, a part-time teacher, are jetting out to Ireland in the hope of meeting up with one of the people who have contacted him.

Mr Hole said: "I had another e-mail from a friend in Ireland and I remembered that the last time I saw him was at the Gold Cup.

"Just at that moment I was inspired with the idea to link the two together."

Mrs Hole admits she had reservations at first - but has now come around to the idea of opening up her home to strangers.

"I was a bit concerned at first, but I said 'Well, OK, lets go for it'."