JEREMY Clarkson is to auction off the chance to appear in the next thriller by best-selling crime writer Mark Billingham.

The dubious honour is just one of an array of promises being sold to the highest bidder on Friday, July 13, in aid of Chipping Norton Lido.

The Top Gear host, pictured, who is a long-term supporter of the lido, will also wield the hammer over a Royal Shakespeare Company tour, a stay at a holiday cottage in Kinlochbervie, Scotland, a bottle of House of Commons Champagne signed by lido patron and Prime Minister David Cameron, and the bidder’s height in Hook Norton beer.

Tickets to any England home football match and to the Cropredy music festival are also up for grabs.

Ken Norman, organiser of the auction, said: “We’re delighted Jeremy is returning for his eighth outing as lido auctioneer.

“We would, however, urge people to buy their tickets in advance as in the past we have had to turn people away on the night.”

Already swimmers at the lido are enjoying new changing rooms, thanks to grants and the lido’s savings.

Tickets for the auction cost £15 from Jaffé & Neale bookshop, Chipping Norton, the lido, or visit www.chippylido.co.uk