THE most capped player in English football history was the special guest speaker at a charity sporting lunch in Brighton on Friday.

Held at The Grand hotel, the Best of British event welcomed Peter Shilton to mark its 10th anniversary.

He joined more than 500 guests for a three-course lunch, before taking centre stage to share tales from his colourful career.

In the last decade, more than £450,000 has been raised through the Best of British Brighton lunches, which has supported a variety of Sussex charities.

Since 2013, the beneficiary charity has been Rockinghorse.

Having celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, the children’s charity is best known as the official fundraising arm of the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton and is also a vital supporter of the neighbouring Trevor Mann Baby Unit.

This year’s sold-out event, sponsored by Overline, has raised £36,500.

Generous guests have helped the children’s charity reach its fundraising goal for its latest project at the Trevor Mann Baby Unit.

Having launched an appeal at Christmas, Rockinghorse needed to raise £120,000 to fund a state-of-the-art real-time digital X-ray imaging facility to help treat premature babies on the Brighton-based unit, which has now been achieved.

Ryan Heal, Rockinghorse chief executive and founder of The Best of British charity lunches, said: “It has been an honour to run these events over the years and we were delighted to welcome Peter Shilton OBE to our 10th anniversary sporting lunch – a true footballing legend.

“We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our guests again this year, who have enabled us to achieve our appeal fundraising target.

“They have contributed to such an important cause which will help more premature babies in Sussex to lead a happy and healthy life.

“I am regularly humbled and inspired by our supporters, many themselves having experienced the life-saving work of the Trevor Mann Baby Unit.”