BRITAIN'S man in Malta is so desperate to see his home town team play that he has invited them for a free holiday.

Vincent Fearn, the High Commissioner in Malta, wants Steve Cotterill and his Burnley team to stay on the Commonwealth island when the cold East Lancashire winter sets in next season.

Today Burnley chief executive Dave Edmundson said the club, which enjoyed a mid-season break in Cyprus this season, would consider the offer.

Mr Fearn attended St Mary's RC Primary School, and St Theodore's RC High School, before going to university and then into the diplomatic service.

Today he revealed there was a large Clarets following on the island he has called home for almost four years.

He is due to leave the post for another overseas job next spring -- and hopes to have made the Clarets guests of honour on the island before he and wife, Anne, move on.

Mr Fearn, 52, said: "I only get back to Burnley maybe once every six months, but do try and get a home game in while I'm back.

"Out here, about half the Maltese population support English teams, and the other half Italian teams. There is quite a strong Clarets contingent, mainly because of the club's glory days in the 1960s.

"When we played Liverpool in the FA Cup earlier this season, there was quite a following in the local bars, and a couple of the hotel owners out here are Burnley fans too.

"They talk about Jimmy McIlroy as if he's their best friend. They have no problem about putting up the team for free for a midwinter break, like they have had elsewhere."

While Burnley shivers in December, Malta enjoys around seven hours of sunshine a day, normally at around 20 Celsius.

Mr Fearn's sister, Bridget Jordan, used to run the Victoria pub in Padiham, and his other sister, Nora Mason, lives in Barrowford.

Burnley chief executive Mr Edmundson, said: "It's a great offer. Ultimately, the final decision lies with Steve Cotterill, but it's something we'll certainly be looking into.

We had a midwinter break in Cyprus and it did the trick."

Burnley's pre-season for the next campaign, like last season, will be in Austria.