Speaking for the first time, former secretary to The Beatles Freda Kelly has said that John Lennon 'always knew he would die young'.

 Kelly, who worked for the band for 11 years from 1962, looked after both the band's fan club and day to day tasks under the leadership of manager Brian Epstein. The subject of a new documentary 'Good Ol' Freda' due to air on More 4 on 10 December, she has spoken to The Guardian about her experiences with the band.

Talking about the death of John Lennon Freda said: "I was just stunned and that day I just didn't know what to do. I just wanted to be on my own… I couldn't even speak."

She continued: "When something like that happens, I cope with it but I go into myself. The first thing that came into my mind [when he died] was that he used to say: 'I won't be here when I'm 40. I won't make 40'. I just wonder what he'd be like today."

Speaking of her experiences running the fan club, Freda also said that she used to send avid subscribers locks of the bands' hair, along with cuttings of clothes that they no longer wore. Taking the hair from the barbers and clothes from the members' mothers, Freda revealed she went to extraordinary lengths while working with the band.

 "Somebody said I used to go to their houses and rob their shirts," she said, "I didn't steal them but if a shirt was ripped and they didn't want it, I'd go round there and take it. I'd always say to Louise Harrison [George's mother] 'Can I have that?' and I'd just cut the shirts up and send them out."

The documentary which was funded by a kickstarter project and directed by film-maker Ryan White, it will be due for DVD release on 4 November and will air on More 4 on 10 December.