ANTIQUES expert Eric Knowles has a big surprise for his audience when he appears at Ludlow Assembly Rooms on Sunday.

The face that is so well known to viewers of Antiques Road Show, Going for a Song and The Great Antiques Hunt as changed.

After 30 years of gracing his upper lip, Eric's moustache has gone.

"It was my wife's suggestion," he explained.

"It happened at new year and the people of Ludlow will be among the first to see my naked face."

His Antique Antics programme will also be a first in another way as Eric has never been to Ludlow before.

"I've been taking my show all over the country, from Keswick to Brighton, and I'm looking forward to coming to the Assembly Rooms," he said.

"I hope to see a room full of people and also an interesting collection of antiques."

The evening is due to start at 6.30pm, when Eric will invite members of the audience to bring some of their own items, which he can talk about on stage.

His more formal programme is due to get under way at 7.30pm.

What advice about what to bring along would he give to the people of Ludlow? "I get enthusiastic about pottery and glass and I'm also interested in Art Nouveau and Art Deco," he explained.

"Don't come with a violin or jewellery and I'm not a painting expert either."

In an ideal world, he said, he wanted to see a Tiffany lamp or some Clarice Cliff ceramics.

So what will he do if someone catches him out?

"I'll have to bring out my standard reply - which is to say if you have two of these that would be worth twice as much," he confessed.

Tickets, for what promises to be an entertaining and instructive evening, at £10 (£8 for concessions) are still available on 01584 878141.