NEWCASTLE United superstar Alan Shearer had to fly back from holiday in the cockpit of a holiday jet after being mobbed by fans.

His opening gambit of conversation to the stunned pilot and his colleague was: "Anybody here interested in football?"

The £40,000-a-week striker was mobbed by supporters wanting autographs - and even people seeking sponsorship - when he boarded the Airtours jet, bound for Faro, in Portugal, with his wife and daughters.

So, on the return journey, Shearer was given the VIP treatment of his own 80-seater coach to the airport and a seat in the cockpit, while his wife, Lainya, and daughters Chloe, seven, and Hollie, five, stayed behind for a later flight.

A crew member who chatted with Shearer reportedly said that the football star was nothing like he appears on television.

He said: "He comes across as a bit boring on TV, but he was very friendly and relaxed. We even took the mickey about him getting the coach to himself and he said, 'believe me, it was the only way'."

The crew member revealed that the pilot and co-pilot on the plane sat in nervous silence until £15m man Shearer broke the ice with his football conversation question.

The Airtours employee was also reported as saying that Shearer had told the air crew that his former Newcastle United manager, Ruud Gullit, was "the most arrogant man he had met".

However, the star added that rumours about the rivalry between them had been exaggerated.

Shearer waited in the cockpit while the other 180 passengers alighted from the plane at Newcastle airport, on Thursday night.