Yesterday it was just an empty football stadium.

But by the weekend, it will be a concert venue fit for one of the music world's biggest stars.

Sir Elton John is to perform at Oxford's Kassam Stadium on Saturday, but five days before he sets foot in the city, his crew arrived to begin the task of setting up the stage.

Yesterday staff were poring over plans and assembling backstage buildings.

Every day this week will see a crew of about 30 people getting ready for the gig, with 150 support workers helping out.

Leading procedings is site manager Mark 'Wolfie' Woolliscroft, who has just come from Sir Elton's gig at Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

He said: "We've taken delivery of most of the things we need, such as stage buildings and forklifts, and will be cracking on with building things up day by day.

"Everything is planned and scheduled, so that absolutely everything is accounted for."

Yesterday the team welcomed plumbers and electricians and began putting up temporary buildings, fences and a catering marquee.

Today, the remaining buildings will be delivered, the pitch covered and the stage marked out.

John Angus, operations director at the Kassam Stadium, said: "After months of planning and talking, it's all happening.

"The good thing is that everything is up to speed and on target."

As reported in the Oxford Mail , there are about 3,000 tickets to be sold.

Mr Angus said: "People seem to be under the impression the concert is sold out, when there are still some tickets left.

"The phones have been ringing ever since the article appeared in the Mail, and things seem to have picked up again."

Mr Angus urged ticket holders to buy car parking tickets. With more than 12,000 of the 18,000 tickets being sold to Oxfordshire residents, he said it was essential people purchased a park-and-ride ticket beforehand, priced at £7.

There are about 3,000 spaces at the following places: Seacourt Park-and-Ride; Redbridge Park-and-Ride; Unipart car park; Horspath Recreation Ground; Headington Hill car park (Oxford Brookes campus, Headington Road) and Oxford Greyhound Stadium.

Shuttle buses will go from each of these destinations every five minutes between 2.30pm and 5.30pm, with the last bus leaving for the stadium at 5.30pm. Buses will also be running from Oxford railway station.

A limited number of £10 parking spaces at the stadium can be booked beforehand.