He's coming home, he's coming home, Shearer's coming home - Alison Jones's home, to be precise.

The student teacher woke up the morning after England's World Cup defeat by Romania to find star striker Alan Shearer dumped in her back garden.

The lifesize cardboard replica was stolen two days earlier from McDonald's in Colwell Drive, Abingdon. The bad news for England coach Glenn Hoddle is that his goal-scoring ace seems to have picked up a nasty ankle injury ahead of tomorrow's crucial decider against Colombia.

Alison, 24, who lives with three other Oxford Brookes University students in Wheatley, said: "He was there when I woke up and looked in a bit of a sorry state. We were just laughing about it and brought him into the house. I then heard he had been stolen and would have been used for charity so started to feel guilty."

McDonald's manager Israr Ahmed said: "I have offered the people who found him a free meal for his safe return. At the end of the World Cup, I plan to raffle him."

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