LOYAL employee Linden Kirk-Yates is the apple of his bosses' eye - after racking up 37 years of service without a single day off sick.

And the 55-year-old buyer for LG Philips Displays, Blackburn, says he owes it all to eating an apple every day.

Linden, who lives in Rishton, started at the site as a machine operator in 1966 before moving on to become a buyer.

As well as his healthy diet, Linden also keeps fit and has been a regular blood donor for the past five decades.

He said: "I started donating blood in 1966 and have given 78 pints to date. I believe this has been a big factor in staying healthy - not forgetting the 13,5000 apples I have eaten!"

Linden's incredible record came to light when the company reviewed their attendance figures.

And his dedication was rewarded with a silver salver, presented by plant director Phil Brown.

Mr Brown said: "To work for so many years without a day off is truly remarkable. There must have been days when Linden was feeling under the weather and just wanted to pull up the covers and stay in bed, yet he never did."

A spokesman for the Confederation of British Industries, said: "I would say this is astonishingly rare."

Fellow colleagues at the Blackburn plant have also racked up impressive attendance records including Chris Wright (25 years); Valerie Dudley (17 years); Nigel Taylor (14 years); Andrew Tracey (five years); John Ashurst, Jim Evans and Wayne Carter (all four years); and David Hargreaves and Salima Motorwala (three years) - making a grand total of 120 years of full working days without sick leave among the ten of them.