Melksham Liverpool fan Mike Young says he has been forced to auction off his collection of Anfield memorabilia to raise cash after losing his job.

He lost his job due to recession cuts last October. The same month he moved into a new home and his girlfriend gave birth to their second child.

Mr Young, 38, has been an ardent Liverpool fan since his mother gave him his first Liverpool rosette when he was only eight.

Since then he has amassed a collection of more than 1,000 programmes, several Anfield stadium replicas, various pictures, photographs and prints ands over 100 shirts with a majority of them being limited edition and signed by players past and present.

One of the examples he is selling has 56 signatures of players past and present.

Mr Young and his girlfriend’s brother regularly attend auctions and have chosen to sell the items at The Wessex Auction Rooms near Chippenham at their Collectors and Sporting Auction on May 16.

“I will be sorry to see it go, Liverpool football club means the world to me I took my girlfriend on our second date to the Champions League semi-final, and our third was to the final.”

He said: “I know the auction rooms and this type of auction is something the auctioneer and his people are very passionate about, I hope the items go to real fans like myself.

"My plan is to get things back on track and to try and rebuild this half of my collection.”

Auctioneer Peter Weeks went to Mr Young’s home to do the initial valuation and said he has never met such a dedicated fan.

“When I turned up on his doorstep, Mike answered the door in Liverpool slippers, it was at that point I knew this guy was a complete Liverpool nut, the Liverpool wallpaper was also a give-away.

"It was like walking into a museum. I didn’t want to mention where my footie allegiances lie.

"It is of course a very sad story and we will do everything we can to make sure that we get what the items are worth in the current market for Mike and his family.

"Items like this are becoming ever more popular and in many ways are becoming the antique of the future.”