A BRIDE-to-be has found herself sharing her big day with 7,000 strangers after a last- minute change of plan.

Alison Martin suffered a late hitch to her plans to get married at the Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough Football Club.

She turned to the club when her original venue fell through.

And even though the club warned it had another function on the same day, desperate Alison agreed to share.

What she didn't realise until later was that the other function was a fundraising West End musicals concert that has attracted thousands of people.

Despite the larger than expected crowd, Alison, a 28-year-old shipping operations controller, and bridegroom David Atkinson have decided to make the best of it.

So Alison will be serenaded by a professional troubadour on the pitch in front of all the people.

There, a spotlight will fall on them as top performer Paul Baker, who has just finished playing the title role in the new musical Napoleon, will dedicate one of the show's numbers, If I Loved You, to them.

The couple started planning their wedding in February last year and booked their reception at a local hotel.

This was unexpectedly cancelled in November because of refurbishment work needed at the hotel.

They frantically searched for a new location and were delighted to find that the date which had already been booked with the church and also with friends travelling from America and Dubai was available at the stadium.

Alison said: "We are looking forward to the wedding and now, because of the change, the day should be even more special for us and all our guests.

"We think that this must be the biggest wedding reception on record. There can't be many people who celebrate their wedding day with 7,000 strangers.

The proceeds from Saturday's concert will go to Teesside Hospice, which costs £1.3m a year to run and receives only about £400,000 from the local NHS. It has to raise the rest through a variety of activities, including a lottery, a chain of shops and various legacies and grants.

Tomorrow, four West End performers will sing songs from hits such as Phantom of the Opera, Chess, and Les Miserables.

There will also be songs from The Beautiful Game, the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton, which is set around the world of football.