HUNDREDS of tickets to the Elton John concert at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury were sold to NHS workers for just £5 each.

While some concert goers paid £100 for seats, employees at hospitals were offered the tickets for the knock down rate two days before the concert.

Shortly after an email was sent out to staff, scores of East Kent NHS workers poured out of their offices and wards in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital to join a queue for the tickets in the hospital manager’s office.

Other staff rushed over during office hours from the health trust’s other major sites at Margate and Ashford.

A spokesman for Marshall Arts, the company which staged the event, said the tickets were made available to NHS staff at Elton’s request.

"He personally wanted tickets to be made available to staff from the services such as the hospital and the ambulance trust," the spokesman said.

"I understand they had a fantastic time. This was the biggest concert Canterbury has ever had and I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t think this was anything but an unprecedented success."