A RISHTON dad rolled up his sleeves yesterday to donate his 100th pint of blood.

Linden Kirk-Yates, 63, of Petre Crescent, has been supporting the National Blood Service for 45 years.

Each blood donation can save the lives of up to three people, so Linden has potentially helped save the lives of 300 patients.

He said: “I’m very proud of it I must be honest, but I’m also very fortunate to have kept in good health.

“I was 18 when I gave my first pint at the Mullards factory in Whitebirk, Blackburn.

“There was a mobile blood unit that came around for about a week.

“I went for lunch in the canteen, people from the service asked if I was interested, I said yes.”

Linden, who has two daughters, police officer Amanda and reception teacher Lucy, with his wife Brenda, said he was ‘quite nervous’ ahead of his landmark donation at the Poplar Social Club.

He said: “I’ve been pacing about and in a sense I’ll be glad when it’s over with.

“When I gave my 75th pint I was invited to Old Trafford football ground. They also invited people who had received blood to give a little speech and say thank you. It was very emotional.

“The reason I think it is so important now is because I’m aware that not enough young people are giving blood.

“Hopefully this will be good publicity because they really need all the blood they can get.”

Linden appeared in the Lancashire Telegraph back in 2004 when he was described as the apple of his bosses' eye - after racking up 37 years of service without a single day off sick.

The buyer for LG Philips Displays, who was rewarded with a silver salver for his incredible record, said he owed it all to eating an apple every day.

He said: “I retired from Phillips in 2008, and then I worked for the Royal Mail as a postman in Accrington until January this year.

“Unfortunately I started playing five-a-side football, which was stupid, and I got a hernia, so I was off for 10 days. That was the only time I was off in 41 years.

“Even now I’m still eating an apple a day after all these years.”