A STRUGGLING village club hope next Saturday night will be alright to help keep it running with a performance from a headline-hitting Elton John tribute.

Dedicated volunteers from Stanton Village Club, near Broadway, could not believe their Blue Eyes when they saw pictures of Paul Bacon, also known as Ultimate Elton, on the front page of national newspapers in March.

He had been set to perform at the picturesque club before he hit the national press when he was booked by Elton John's estranged mother Sheila Farebrother to perform at her 90th birthday party.

Elton, real name Reginald Dwight, and his mother have not been on speaking terms since 2008 and Mr Bacon's headline hitting appearance at the birthday bash saw his bookings rocket (man).

Fortunately, organisers booked the lookalike to perform at Stanton Village Club months in advance after a previous show and are hoping the Saturday, May 16 gig will be a resounding success thanks to Mr Bacon's new found fame.

Robin Williams, the club's events organiser, said: "We are a village club in a beautiful area but we are struggling a little bit.

"Basically, we all do everything for free because we like to keep the club going.

"We've had Paul come to the club before and booked him about six to eight months in advance.

"Then he pops up in the newspapers and once I saw it and made sure it was the same guy I gave him a call.

"He said it was absolutely great, you can imagine he does a lot of appearances and has sung with Kiki Dee and met Elton John.

"We're hoping all these headlines will have a positive effect on ticket sales and it shows what we are booking is quality acts.

"We make sure our nights are affordable to keep it busy, we don't make money on the artists we make our money on the beer we sale which keeps the place going.

"Times have changed and obviously the recession hasn't helped us.

"Stanton is a beautiful little village but it is predominantly a commuter area.

"But we do okay, we have the cricket club and we like to raise money for different charities and we would like to keep the club here local people.

"The nights are great fun, we all have a lot of fun."

Mr Bacon said he also hoped the coverage would have a positive impact on the club.

"Since that night I have certainly had a lot more interest from people.

"Performing for Elton's mother was quite something, obviously I was honoured to be asked to do it.

"As you can imagine, I had a great time and was there with my band.

"We performed for about an hour and it was Sheila who picked the set list.

"I performed at Stanton Village Club a couple of years ago and I can remember what a nice venue it is, I have fond memories of the place.

"The performance for Elton's mum certainly generated a lot more interest so hopefully a lot more people will come along and see what all the fuss is about."

The evening begins at 7.30pm and tickets, costing £10, are available by calling 01242 621483 or 07783 816967.

Alternatively, log on to stantonclub.co.uk or Stanton Village Club Facebook page.