Thousands of jobs will be created and millions of pounds generated if England's bid to hold the 2006 football World Cup Finals is successful, campaigners say.

The prediction has come from the team behind England's 2006 bid. It says a massive workforce would be needed to cope with work generated by the influx of fans.

Euro 96, the European football championships final, made more than £69 million profit when 1.3 million spectators watched games at eight venues.

An estimated 250,000 soccer fans visited England during the championships, spending £125 million.

There were huge sales of beer and lager, with pubs and clubs packed during and after televised matches. One chain of pizza takeaways almost doubled sales on the evening that England were beaten by Germany in the semi-final.

The 2006 World Cup would dwarf the Euro 96 tournament, netting the government a small fortune from the spending spree.

France '98 will have 32 teams competing - twice as many as Euro '96 - and organisers expect 750,000 fans to travel to the finals.

The England 2006 team is to be increased to 15 in the New Year, jointly funded by the Football Association and money from the National Lottery.

The 24 members of FIFA who will make their decision in June 2000, are being lobbied ahead of their crucial vote.

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