STANDING there as the cast of the latest Star Wars movie waltzed past flashing their pearly whites, the two mates from County Durham had every right to feel pleased with themselves.

Paying £2,500 each to jet out to LA to watch what they thought was the world premiere of Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Philip Murphy and Graeme Davison really thought the Force was with them.

Unfortunately, their common sense wasn't.

You don't need the intellect of Yoda to work out that a premier in London that same night finished eight hours earlier because of the time difference.

But, displaying more guts than Chewbacca's hairdresser, they braved the inevitable criticisms and said every penny was well spent.

Computer worker Philip, 33, from Consett, County Durham, said: "I know a lot of people would think we are totally nuts to come over to America but we don't care.

"It's true we could have saved a fortune and seen the film in Britain eight hours before, but this is the Mecca for all Star Wars fans.

"This cinema, the Manns Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, is where George Lucas premiered the original in 1977 and we have met fellow fanatics from New Zealand, Australia and Japan. The atmosphere at the camp is great and everyone is really friendly. The only problems came when some passers-by shout out 'losers' and 'geeks' at us, but we just laugh at them."

Because they flew in from the UK, they didn't need to stand in line for the usual 60 hours to get their premiere tickets.

Graeme Davison, 25,a web designer from Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, said: "Because we came in from Britain we only had to wait for seven hours, which is great because some have been here since April 4.

"The time actually went really quickly and we shared Star Wars stories with the other fans while we stood in the blazing heat."

The pair joined forces with two other Star Wars nuts, Lee Whalley, 33, from Aughton in Lancashire and Matt Wheeler, 29, from Cardiff, to plan the trip two weeks ago.

Graeme's mother, Sandra Davison, reckons the lads are to be envied, not pitied.

She said: "I think what they are doing is brilliant - the holiday of a lifetime. Graeme suffers from a form of rheumatoid arthritis so he hasn't been on holiday for ten years.

"He said he saw Ewan McGregor and Samuel L Jackson as they walked down the red carpet. But that's nothing compared to the film. I'm sure he will think it is stupendous."

The four jetted out to LA last Friday for Sunday's premiere and are now on their way back to England.