CATHY STONES has a job that most autograph-hunters and sport fans would die for -- and she admits it's all wasted on her.

As a hospitality manager specialising in sporting events Cathy gets to work at prestigious locations usually with prestigious clients.

Recently she was at the Open Golf Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes, where it was rumoured Tom Cruise, Sean Connery and even Bill Clinton were present.

But her busy job means she gets little time to chat among the stars. And Cathy said she was too professional to do so anyway.

The 40-year-old mother-of-two from Cemetery Road, Darwen, said: "I actually saw Tiger Woods -- that's what he's called isn't he? But he wasn't playing. He was just talking to someone. I didn't actually see anyone hitting a ball.

"I do get to see lots of famous people at other events but I don't have my picture taken with them or get their autograph. It would be unprofessional. These people have come to an event and don't want to be hassled. It is their day off."

Cathy said she was "too long in the tooth" to get excited when such luminaries as Robbie Williams are behind her in the queue for the toilets -- unlike some of her staff.

But she she did once get "charmed" by Sean Connery himself.

She said: "The younger ones still get very excited. But you must not approach them. At the end of the day they are our customers."

Cathy has worked for current employers Sodexho Prestige, one of the county's biggest catering companies, for three years. Previously she was a catering manager at Blackburn Rovers.

One of her first jobs was the reopening of Scotland's national sports ground, Hampden Park.

Since then has worked at almost every sporting event from the British Grand Prix to Royal Ascot.

And she hasn't seen one bit of the action.

During the Test match against Pakistan at Old Trafford she didn't see one cricketer. "They'd be dressed in white, wouldn't they? No. I didn't see anyone like that."

And the British Grand Prix at Silverstone? "Well, there was a lot of noise in the background. Sounded like aeroplanes taking off."

Husband Paul, with whom Cathy has two children - Jonathan 19, and Paul, 17 - said his wife "wasted" the fact that she got to attend so many great events but she stressed it was just a job. And quite a hard one.

Cathy is heavily involved with the corporate hospitality side of the business, travelling all over the country and helping to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Hospitality is big business, especially at top sporting occasions, and it takes a lot of planning and organising.

At the Open golf Cathy had 15 managers and 120 staff working under her direction and it's her job to make sure it all goes like clockwork.

The next big event for Cathy and her team will be next month's big Western meeting at Ayr racecourse.

"I might manage to see a race," she said.

"But I'll probably be too busy."