ENGLAND World Cup legend Sir Geoff Hurst was the guest speaker at an event held by a Basingstoke company.

The 1966 hat-trick hero entertained staff and specially invited guests of Advanced Engineering at the business' annual golf day and dinner.

The event, held at Sherfield Oaks Golf Club, in Sherfield-on-Loddon, was organised to say thank you to valued customers, distributors, suppliers and contacts of the air conditioning and refrigeration company, based in Stroudley Road.

At the event, Sir Geoff and Advanced Engineering chairman Barry Lea presented a £5,000 cheque to Ark Cancer Centre Charity trustee Merv Rees, which was doubled to £10,000 as part of Greenham Common Trust’s match-funding scheme.

The donation will support the charity’s campaign to raise £5million towards a unique local cancer treatment centre in Basingstoke.

Mr Lea said: “We’re very proud to contribute to such an important cause, and we would like to thank Sir Geoff and everyone who attended the golf day and dinner.

“We work with a huge number of good people in our industry, particularly our customers, distributors and suppliers, and this event is one way of thanking them for their support throughout the year, as well as giving something back to the community we work in.”

Mr Rees added: “This is a significant show of support for the charity appeal and cancer treatment centre project from Barry and the team at Advanced Engineering, and it is very much appreciated.

“It was a privilege and honour for me to receive this generous donation from Barry and Sir Geoff, and it was great to hear the speech by a true football legend.”

The Ark Cancer Centre is raising £5m towards a new centre that is earmarked for a site near to Junction 7 of the M3.

It will feature a range of support services, complementary therapies, chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.