BOSSES at a Hampshire charity are hoping their latest fundraising drive will put their leukaemia research on the home straight to success.

Celebrities and diners mingled for an entertaining evening at the Leukaemia Busters grand Top Gear ball at Beaulieu Motor Museum.

The event is thought to have been a roaring success.

Among the luminaries were Southampton MP Alan Whitehead and Romsey MP Sandra Gidley. The guests were treated to a delicious dinner followed by music from Capital Radio DJ Mike Osman.

There were auctions and a raffle to add a little extra to the £70-a-head ticket takings.

Among the items up for grabs was a Real Madrid shirt signed by David Beckham, a James Bond Die Another Day gold-framed DVD signed by Halle Berry and an Elvis signed and framed Moody Blues LP.

But one surefire way of bringing in the cash was a rock 'n' roll LP signed and framed by John Lennon, which fetched more than £4,000 and was bought by Rod Bransgrove, chairman of Hampshire Cricket Club.

Organisers are hoping the total will top last year's £41,000.

However, none of the three celebrity patron couples - Gary and Mich-elle Lineker, David and Thorunn Gower and Harry and Sandra Redknapp - attended Friday night's glitzy event.

All money raised will go towards the charity's Cure for ALL campaign, which takes its name from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and aims to find a cure for the 25 per cent of children with currently incurable forms of leukaemia. Scientists funded by Leukaemia Busters have developed new antibody-based targeted drugs that are now undergoing clinical trials in children's cancer centres across the UK.

For more information on their work click on www.leukaemiabusters.org.uk or call 023 8063 6607.