Anybody out there ?

From time to time everyone wonders if anyone ever listens to anything they are saying. Well that's how Derry City Football Club stadium announcer Mark Patterson felt after spending almost 30 minutes reading out the registration of a car which was blocking an entrance gate.

It was only after making the announcement three times that Mr Patterson realised that the offending vehicle was in fact his.

Mr Patterson, who also presents a show on BBC Radio Foyle, was on duty at the Eircom League cup final between Derry City and Bohemians earlier this week.

"When I drove up in the car, the guys at the gate of the VIP car park told me to just throw it up the side," he said. "I offered to give them the keys in case they needed to move it, but they told me that they knew where I was."

However, three carloads of Bohemian fans who tried to leave the match early found themselves trapped in the car park with Mr Patterson's Land Rover blocking the way.

In his defence, Mr Patterson said he had only owned the vehicle for about one month.

"I asked if there were any other details about the car, if they had told me it was a Land Rover, I would have known straight away that it was mine," he said. "After a while, I started to think that the number was familiar and as soon as I realised it was mine I went down and moved it."