Jamie spends £43,000 at Becks bash

The sushi and satay were obviously to Jamie Oliver's taste at David and Victoria Beckhams' pre-World Cup party - he splashed out more than £40,000 in the charity auction.

The celebrity chef was among 400 guests, including Sir Elton John and Joan Collins, enjoying the estimated £350,000 Japanese-themed party at the Beckhams' Hertfordshire home.

Oliver, who attended the event with wife Jules and two-month-old daughter Poppy Honey, became the toast of the event with his charity bids. Dressed in a white suit, he entered an enthusiastic bidding war with Simply Red's Mick Hucknall for a signed pair of Beckham's old football boots.

Beckham intervened and agreed to supply a second signed pair and Hucknall and Oliver agreed to pay £29,000 a pair each. Oliver spent a further £14,000 on two tickets to all England's World Cup games next month, flying Virgin Upper Class return.

More than £200,000 was raised at the auction for the NSPCC, which the Beckhams have supported for a number of years. The event was a showy farewell to the England football stars who are flying out to Dubai today to begin their World Cup preparations.

A number of football superstars attended the party, including George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Geoff Hurst and Gary Lineker.

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, accompanied by girlfriend Nancy dell'Olio, led the host of top sporting names mingling with most of the men from the current England football squad.

Other guests included designer Vivienne Westwood, Sir Richard Branson, Lulu, Cilla Black and musician Goldie.

Celebrity hairdresser Nicky Clarke, model Jodi Kidd, Graham Norton, Danni Behr, Angus Deayton and Ben Elton were also there. Other sports stars included British tennis player Greg Rusedski and snooker player Jimmy White.

The stars got free tickets but rich corporate guests paid £3,000 to attend.

More than 300 cheering on-lookers watched from behind barricades as the stars arrived. Fulham chairman Mohamed Fayed touched down with his family in a Harrods helicopter, carrying two shopping bags packed with gifts for the Beckhams.

David and son Brooklyn, three, wore matching outfits of black Japanese style frock coat with red waist sashes while Victoria opted for a £15,000 Ricci Burns dress and full-length leather coat. Girls dressed as geishas served saki under the giant marquees.

An ornamental Japanese garden was created especially with 60,000 orchids, decking and large smooth stones blending in with bamboo, grasses and lavender. Around the marquees, oriental lanterns were rigged along with other decorations costing an estimated £40,000.

Jonathon Shalit, former manager of Charlotte Church, said guests walked in through a hall "decked out as an enchanted forest, where there were gymnasts dressed as trees who would suddenly move".

He added: "Then you were into the main marquee. David and Victoria were in the middle sharing a table with Elton John and his partner David Furnish and Joan Collins and her husband Percy Gibson."

There were performances by "people's tenor" Russell Watson and soul singer Beverley Knight. Radio One's Dreem Team - apparently David Beckham's favourite DJ acts - took to the turntables for the disco.