A SPORTS fan has said he is ‘absolutely flabbergasted’ after he was reunited with an autograph book he once cherished as a child - but hasn't seen in over 30 years.

Lancashire Telegraph business editor Jason Kayley, 45, was left flummoxed when out of the blue he received a phone call from Karen Eggleston, whose daughter had found an old autograph book in a Nissan Qashqui she had just bought from a dealer in Birmingham.

Stephanie Eggleston, who now lives in Suffolk, found the book in the backseat pocket of the car and soon realised there was an address inside the little green book.

She instantly recognised the name of the place the owner had lived: Oswaldtwistle.

She rang her mum who lives at their family home in Wigan and asked he if she recognised the name or address in the book as she knew it wasn’t too far away from where she had grown up.

Karen Eggleston said: “When Stephanie told me about the book I wanted to get to the bottom of who it belonged to.

“It was old and you could tell somebody had once loved it very much. We decided that when Stephanie came up to visit me, we would try and track down its owner.

“We got in the car and drove to the address in Oswaldtwistle, but soon found out the house is now a hairdressers.

“We were going to pop into the GP and pharmacy over the road to ask them if they had ever heard of the name in the book, but before we did that I decided to Google his name.

“It came up that Jason worked as journalist at the Lancashire Telegraph so I just rang the office to find out if he was still there - we couldn't believe it when we were told he was!”

Stephanie and Karen then drove to the Lancashire Telegraph office’s in Blackburn to meet up with Jason, who was lost for words when he clapped eyes on the book.

He said: “I can’t remember the last time I saw it and I'm blown-away that my little book has ended up in the back-seat of a Nissan in Birmingham! I have no idea how or why it got there!

"Holding it in my hands I remember exactly where I was when I got some of these treasured signatures.

“There are darts players like Eric Bristow and Bobby George and Rovers players from the mid-80s like Simon Garner, Ian Miller, Chris Thompson, Terry Gennoe.

“It brings back so many memories and I’m really grateful to Stephanie and Karen for taking the time and effort to get it back to me.”