GENEROUS boss Mark Harrod paid £12,000 at an auction so his staff could enjoy a champagne lunch with cricket sensation Andrew Freddie Flintoff. But the staff at Fenmarc s March factory will also be helping to raise money for charity by snapping up raffl

GENEROUS boss Mark Harrod paid £12,000 at an auction so his staff could enjoy a champagne lunch with cricket sensation Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff.

But the staff at Fenmarc's March factory will also be helping to raise money for charity by snapping up raffle tickets in a bid to meet the England all-rounder and Wisden's 'Leading cricketer of the world'.

Workers are buying up to 10 tickets at a time to secure their place at next week's lunch and question-and-answer session with the sporting superstar.

Tickets for Tuesday's event are on sale to the 1,000 employees at the vegetable producing plant and already more than £1,000 has been raised for breast cancer charity Tickled Pink.

Fenmarc spokesman Mandeep Sull said: "All the staff are really excited about the prospect of meeting Freddie. It's a great way of rewarding our employees by letting them meet a true cricketing legend and raise money for a good cause at the same time.

"We wanted to raise money for the breast cancer charity Tickled Pink as it is Asda's chosen charity and we are a dedicated supplier to them. We have sold hundreds of tickets with some people buying 10 at a time."

Chairman Mr Harrod paid the £12,000 at an auction in Bolton for the influential Ashes hero to visit March for the day.

Fifty staff will be chosen at random to meet Freddie and enjoy the slap-up champagne lunch before the question-and-answer session.

But Mrs Sull added: "We want to make it quite clear that this is only open to Fenmarc employees and is our way of raising money and thanking them for their hard work over the years.