NEWPORT has its own 'rock god' in the making - and ten-year-old guitar hero Luke Doherty has the endorsement of his idol Eric Clapton.

Signed pictures of Clapton, former Queen guitarist Brian May and Carlos Santana adorn the kitchen walls of the Doherty family home in Melfort Road in the Gaer.

Brave Luke (pictured) suffers from a rare combination of two skin conditions, pestular psoriasis and acute eczema, as well as Perthes' disease, a fragmentation of the hip which has seen him spend the last two years with his legs in plaster.

Though his hip is improving, he still can't get around without crutches or a wheelchair and he might need his legs back in plaster before too long.

Despite all this, he has spent the last three years learning to play the guitar and has just passed his grade 5 examination, GCSE standard, in Rock Guitar with Trinity Rock School.

Because of his medical conditions, Luke's life has its restrictions. He can't swim, sit on grass or get around as fast as the other children who attend Gaer Junior School with him.

But his awesome talent has won him the admiration of his peers - his old head teacher at Gaer Infants School asked him to play a show at the school barbecue this week, and he has played two years in a row at the Christmas party of Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital Fracture Clinic.

"Luke says he wants to play guitar and make music his life and if that's the case then we'll back him," says his mother Debbie.

"He actually picked up a guitar and tried to play it when he was five but his little hands started bleeding. Now he moisturises five times a day and is on special treatments."

When asked about the photo of himself with Clapton on the wall which is signed "For Luke, keep on keepin' on, Eric Clapton", Luke's eyes light up.

"Mum sorted it out when we went to see him play at the King's Dock in Liverpool. I was so excited I couldn't speak.

"My dream now is to play guitar with him and Brian May."

Mrs Doherty said: "Eric was such a lovely man, he made Luke so happy."

Tired of talking, Luke picks up one of five guitars he has in the house and slips effortlessly into a superb rendition of the riff from Eric Clapton's classic Layla.

He follows that with Gary Moore's heartbreaking guitar lead from Parisienne Walkways, and the sound makes one forget it's a ten-year-old's fingers making that music.