A VOLUNTARY charity shop worker has 'poured his heart and soul' into writing a biography of a celebrity friend - which features a foreword by the late George Best.

And Tom Page's book on Malcolm Wagner - the former singer of The Whirlwinds which became the popular group 10cc and the business partner of the George Best for many years - has been four years in the making.

Tom, 61, who is from Ramsbottom and often lends a hand at Sue Ryder in Bridge Street, asked George to write the foreword to The Man Behind the Champagne Fountain'.

Malcolm, who now owns the Grant Arms Hotel in Ramsbottom, met George in Manchester and they opened nightclub Slack Alice in the 1970s. Tom, a fire engineer by trade, met Malcolm when his insurance company held a party at one of his nightclubs in Manchester.

They met up again years later when Tom took up an office near the Grants Arms.

He said: "I asked him whether anyone had ever written a biography about him and he said no but he was delighted about it.

"The book is about the fact he has been the one who made everything happen.

"He's really well-known but he's also a nice guy. Now he's a personal friend of mine."

Tom interviewed George Best and former chat show host Michael Parkinson at the Grants Hotel in Ramsbottom two years ago, to help him compile the book.

Tom said: "I didn't want to write a regular biography so this one is a bit different.

"I am a big fan of the 60s because it was my time as a lad.

"Manchester was the centre of the universe and it was exciting to be part of it.

"And right in the middle of all of it was Waggy - everybody knows him."

George Best wrote the foreword for the book before he died - and his anecdotes have never been used before.

"I've put my heart and soul into it. It's a work of love."

Tom hopes the 404 page book, will be in the shops by Christmas.