EE: The Alfie-mobile

[eefanincan]

Drive me to the Moon: Tattooist and mother-of-two covers her car in photographs of Shane Richie
11th January 2011

This mother-of-two is over the Moon with her new-look car. Mandy Crowther, 43, from Chorley in Lancashire, is such a big fan of actor Shane Richie she paid to have her car plastered with pictures of the star. Richie plays loveable rogue Alfie Moon in BBC soap Eastenders, and often tops popularity polls for his endearing market trader role. Miss Crowther is hoping her Peugeot 306 Cabriolet, which is completely covered with images of the 46-year-old, can help raise money for charity in memory of her father, Noel Rourke, who died of bowel cancer in October.

She said: 'I’m a bit of a Shane Richie fanatic. He does a lot of stuff for charity, raising money.' The formerly blue car is plastered in photographs of the actor from shows including Minder, Don’t Forget the Lyrics and 71 Degrees North, as well as a picture of him with his wife and children on the boot. 'Shane would probably think I was a wacko if he saw it, but I love it to bits,' said Miss Crowther.

The tattooist is planning to open a shop in Chorley in the coming weeks and is hoping people will sponsor her car or give donations in a bid to raise money. She bought the car around four months ago and had the work done by Poppy Signs, Pall Mall, just before Christmas. The photographs were printed onto a vinyl wrap which was then draped round the car and melted on with heat guns. The work cost £1,000 and Miss Crowther's friends and family contributed to the cost, including her mum - who gave her some money towards it as a birthday treat.

Dave McDonald from local business Poppy Signs, says it took one of his fitters two days to do the car. 'The biggest difficulty was trying to find enough different pictures of Shane Richie,' he added.

Shane Richie, birth name Shaun Patrick Roche, 46, began his career as a bluecoat entertainer in Pontins holiday camps as a teenager. He progressed to stand up comedy, receiving a nomination for best new stand-up at the inaugural British Comedy Awards, then moved into TV. He presented a handful of game shows, and replaced Danny Baker in the 'doorstep challenge' TV ads for Daz . As Alfie Moon, in EastEnders, Richie received immediate acclaim for bringing humour to a programme often panned for being too depressing.

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I like Alfie a lot, but this is a bit over the top!

[Skylace]

I agree! I love our cheeky chappy but damn!

[faceless]

oh dearie dearie me!

[SpursFan1902]

It would be hard to get away with traffic violations in that!