Play-off fever is sweeping Shropshire with Shrewsbury Town fans queuing for hours to snap up the thousands of tickets on sale for the club’s vital play-off semi-final matches.

Hundreds of fans spent their bank holiday queueing around the car park at the club’s Prostar Stadium to secure their ticket for Thursday night’s home clash with Bury.

The Shrews are potentially just two games away from Wembley.

The club secured a place in the play-off semi-final, which will be played over two legs, after beating Dagenham & Redbridge 2-1 on Saturday.

If Shrewsbury beat Bury they will face Gillingham or Rochdale for a place in League One next season.

The home leg is well on the way to being a sell-out with club general manager Jon Harris today revealing about 4,000 tickets had been sold, including the allocation for Bury. There are about 5,500 left.

Mr Harris said about 1,000 tickets had been sold for the away leg.

There are about 1,200 left, which will be on sale today. The club served more than 2,000 people yesterday.

Mr Harris said: “It’s fantastic. We were aware that our fan base is good for the division. We’ve had great support home and away all season so it’s no real surprise that we are faced with a potential sell-out, but it’s still magnificent.”

He said the club wanted the Prostar Stadium to be “rocking” on Thursday night.

Tickets for the home leg, which kicks off at 7.45pm, are on sale to season ticket holders and supporters with 50 or more loyalty points until 7pm today. They will go on general sale tomorrow and Thursday.

Tickets for the away leg at Bury at midday on Sunday are on sale to season ticket holders and those with 50 or more loyalty points until close of business tomorrow.

They go on sale to fans with 20 or more loyalty points on Thursday, and if any are left they will go on general sale on Friday and Saturday.

Meanwhile, AFC Telford United is offering fans discounted travel for their Blue Square North play-off final at Gateshead on Friday.

Seats for the long trip to Tyneside are available for just £5 and supporters can book by calling the club office on (01952) 640064.

By John Kirk