Employees of Swindon-based building society Nationwide got the chance to sign messages of support to the England football team ahead of next month's World Cup.

Around 200 staff wrote their messages on the Nationwide England Fans' Bus, which rolled into the company's headquarters in Pipers Way yesterday.

The bus, which will head to Germany in the week building up to England's opening Group B game against Paraguay on June 10, has just been launched and the first celebrity signature to be daubed on the London bus was that of England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Noel Gallagher, Richard E Grant and Sir Cliff Richard are among the famous fans to have already written their signatures on the bus and Prme Minister Tony Blair has also added his own message.

Lana Otto, who works in Nationwide's marketing department, said: "The bus was really popular among our staff and it is going to be a real focal point for fans during the World Cup."

Nationwide's sponsorship controller Chris Hull added: "Over 100,000 supporters are set to travel from England to Germany for the tournament and the Nationwide bus will be promoting goodwill between England fans and supporters of all other competing countries.

"The bus will be taken around England ahead of the World Cup, allowing fans from every region to sign the bus with their good luck message for Sven and the players."