STARS from Emmerdale took on a York cricket team in a charity fundraising match in the city.

Heworth Cricket Club played a team from the popular ITV soap with the aim of raising thousands of pounds for St Leonard’s Hospice in Tadcaster Road.

The match was organised by Phil Allan, a Huntington resident who works as a generator operator on the Emmerdale set.

He said: “It was an absolutely fantastic day – everybody really enjoyed themselves.

“We had about 300 to 400 people turn up to support the teams and everybody who came were very generous in helping raise money for St Leonard’s Hospice.

“Despite it being a bit rainy it was a great day for cricket. It took a lot of organising, but it was well worth it for such a great cause.” Stars who attended the match, at the Elm Park Way ground yesterday, included Matthew Wolfenden (who plays David Metcalfe, son of Eric Pollard), Natalie Anderson (Alicia Gallagher), Chris Bisson (Jai Sharma), Chris Chittell (Eric Pollard) and Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi (Leyla Harding).

A signed Emmerdale script, autographed by all the stars, fetched £70 at an auction.

Crowds also enjoyed face painting, a tombola, bouncy castle and barbeque at the event.

The Emmerdale team lost by 52 runs, after posting a score of 155-9. Heworth got 207-3.