CONTROVERSIAL Harrods boss Mohammed Al Fayed has helped restock a school library after a chance meet-ing with a Hampshire school girl.

Lucy Finn won the heart of the multi-millionaire when she bumped into him during a visit by Fair Oak Junior pupils to the world-famous store.

The nine-year-old's story of how she met the Harrods boss was featured in her school newspaper. And when a copy landed on Mr Al Fayed's desk he was so impressed that he despatched a consignment of more than £300 worth of books to the school.

Teacher Mike Adams praised the donation.

He said: "We are a large school and we rely on fundraising to get a lot of our books. Money is precious and we are very grateful for this gift."

It was Lucy's mum Julie who broke the ice when they spotted the store boss descending a staircase flanked by a ring of bodyguards at the top London shop.

"My mother called out 'Hi' and Mr Al Fayed came down casually and put his hands on my face and shook hands with my parents," recalled Lucy.

"With a click of his fingers the bodyguards formed a circle round us and one of them found a sweet to give me.

"When Mr Al Fayed had gone everyone started to stare at us as if we were important or relatives of his family. It was a wonderful experience and made me feel ten feet tall."

Mum Julie, of Dean Road, Fair Oak, was bowled over by the chance encounter with the tycoon.

"He was very warm and spent a lot of time chatting to Lucy and asked her if she had enjoyed her visit. He could have just walked past but he took the time to speak to us and was so natural."

A Harrods spokesman said: "Mr Al Fayed spends a lot of his working day on the shop floor and is very keen that both his staff and customers feel able to talk with him.

"In any given week he meets and chats with dozens of customers. As a father of young children himself, he is always delighted to welcome Harrods customers of the future to the store and was enchanted by the children of Fair Oak Junior School.''

He added: "It's fairly unusual to follow up a visit up with a gift."

The Fair Oak youngsters are keeping their fingers crossed that Mr Al Fayed will take up an invitation to visit their school.

"We have a really large playing field so there will be plenty of room for his helicopter to land," added Mr Adams.

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