When the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 1999, parties throughout the land will be in full swing. But few, if any, will have been as long in the planning as John Metcalfe's.

The far-sighted Baildon pensioner first asked if he could book the village's Ian Clough Hall for the New Year's Eve bash in January 1978 - 22 years before the dawn of the new Millennium.

Now he is preparing to get down to planning the charity event in fine detail after finally having his booking confirmed by Bradford Council.

Mr Metcalfe, 70, said: "One day in 1978 I was reading a friend's diary which went right through to the end of the century. I thought, 'That's going to be a hell of a night' and just decided to get something going.

"I didn't tell anyone I'd booked it for a long time because they would have thought I was mad - and when I did I don't think they believed me."

An initial letter back from the Council said bookings for the hall could not be confirmed 22 years in advance and asked Mr Metcalfe to try again in the 1990s.

He said: "I wrote back to them every couple of years just to let them know I was still alive and interested and now it's all been confirmed."

Mark Davies, 35, theatres and halls manager for Bradford Council, said: "We only confirm bookings a year in advance but he's had the hall provisionally booked for 22 years, which is amazing.

"I was astonished when I was given a file, which has been passed through various managers' hands over the years, containing six or seven letters from Mr Metcalfe making sure he was still on file.

"In 1978 nobody knew whether the Ian Clough Hall would still be standing at the turn of the century, never mind whether it would still be managed by the Council.

"I was still at secondary school in Manchester when he first wrote to the Council but I've been working for 18 years now and think it's really nice to be the manager who can finally confirm his booking."

Mr Metcalfe hopes to attract young and old alike to the dance by providing ballroom and disco dancing but is seeking a band to provide the music and someone to run the disco before getting tickets for the event printed.

The retired driving instructor, who has enlisted the help of several friends to organise the event, is hoping the event will raise several thousand pounds for Bradford's War on Cancer charity.

lAny bands interested in playing at the bash or anyone able to provide a disco should contact Mr Metcalfe on (01274) 586576.

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