function print_ticker_items()
{
			
			var newsItems = new Array();
			
			
			newsItems[0] = "BBC The Blue Planet Live!  Thu 28 December - Tickets On Sale Now";
 			newsItems[1] = "Go to About Us > News and Press & vote for the M.E.N Arena in the MCR10 Awards";
 			newsItems[2] = "The Pogues - Sat 16 December - Tickets On Sale Now";
 			
			var items		=	"";
				
		for(var i = 0; i < newsItems.length; i++)//add news items to returned string
		{
			items			+=	"<span>";
			items			+=	newsItems[i];
			items			+=	"</span>";
		}

		if(newsItems.length == 0)//must have at leaset one news item scrolling across
			{
				
				items			+=	"<span>";
				items			+=	"No News items today";
				items			+=	"</span>";
				
			}
		if(newsItems.length < 6)//if there is only a few items, add dummy ones to stop jumpiness
			{
				for(var j = newsItems.length; j < 6; j++)
					{
						items			+=	"<span class=\"padding\">";
						items			+=	"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp";
						items			+=	"</span>";
					}
			}
	
		document.write(items);
}