WHEN Liz West was 11 she was looking for something to spice up her life.

Then she discovered Mel B, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Mel C, Geri Halliwell and the 'girl power' movement.

Liz quickly became a big fan of The Spice Girls as they took the music world by storm and she slowly started to buy records and merchandise.

Now, 20 years on, her Guinness World Record breaking collection includes almost 5,000 items from the group's 90s heyday and solo careers.

Liz blames being 'young and impressionable' for her Spice Girls obsession but she now exhibits the collection all over the UK.

It is coming to the Golden Square throughout May as part of the shopping centre's Style Rocks festival.

"The Spice Girls came around at the perfect time for me," said Liz, who is now 31.

"They were energetic, bold and colourful and everything you would want to look at as a pre-teen.

"You could copy their dance routines, you could dress up as them and all your friends loved them as well so you felt like part of a gang."

Liz reckons she got her collector's instinct from her dad Steve, who used to live in Penketh.

She added: "At the beginning I would just buy the albums and have Spice Girls related Christmas and birthday presents.

"But unusually, I wouldn’t use them. I would keep them in the packaging so for me that was the beginning of having a collector’s instinct.

"I think that comes from my dad who was a record collector. He must have instilled that in me."

The collection ranges in price from 33p for a bag of crisps to £2,500 for Geri Halliwell's glitter encrusted green dress that she wore on the Spiceworld tour in 1998.

Liz, who has seen the group live about seven times, said: "That dress was worn by Geri when I saw them for the first time so I thought it was a pretty magical experience.

"I got tickets for my 12th birthday from my parents. I thought the show was spectacular and mesmerizing as a pre-teen.

"I bought this dress from an individual who had won it in a Radio Times competition years before."

But Liz's most treasured items are the outfit that Mel B wore when she met Nelson Mandela and director Bob Spiers' script for Spice World.

She added: "I’ve got the script for the movie. It was the director’s copy so that is all annotated with notes about when the different superstars were on set.

"There were so many famous people in that movie like Bob Geldof, Meatloaf and Jennifer Saunders.

"I’ve exhibited my collection around the country for the last 10 years. I want people to be transported back 20 years and reminisce about their childhoods and a moment in time.

"For me, 'girl power' was saying to a young girl you can do what you want. You can be who you want to be. Don’t try and change for anybody else which was a really important message for me as a young woman."

Liz has also met some of her heroes including Mel B, Mel C and Emma Bunton as well as Victoria Beckham's parents.

She said: "They’re always different to how you envisage them to be especially since I’ve idolised these women since I was 11.

"But they’re so friendly. Mel C in particular was delightful."

DAVID MORGAN