WINE buffs are being given the chance to travel to a French vineyard for just £1 to raise cash for a worthy cause.

A team from the Marsden Cross Inn, Brierfield, will set off from the pub on November 18 to take part in a Beaujolais Nouveau run and bring back to a bottle of the fine wine.

Organisers are to offer a spare seat in the wine run Peugeot 405 estate car as a prize in a raffle to raise cash for Burnley and Pendle Hospice Care.

They are also running a competition to guess their arrival time back at the Marsden, measured to when the bottle hits the bar, with prizes ranging from portable TV sets down to bottles of Beaujolais.

The pub held similar runs in 1984 and 1985 and after a 12-year break organisers decided to have another go.

The wine runners will spend a day in central France before leaving at midnight with a load of Beaujolais to arrive back at the Marsden Cross some time between 11am and 2pm on November 21. The winner of the spare seat will have their hotel and meals paid for but will need spending money, a current passport and travel insurance.

Entrants must be 18 or over and the draw is to take place at Pendleside Hospice, Reedley, on November 1.

One of the organisers, Mel Simpson, said: "We have decided that schools and PTAs will be able to participate by a different channel.

"If they want to sell tickets they will be able to buy blocks of 'arrival time' tickets at 80p per ticket and the remaining 20p when they sell them on will go to swell school funds or whichever good cause they desire."

Mel will be accompanied on the trip by Ken Buffet, whose daughter Amanda runs the Marsden Cross, and Ricky Philips.

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