A GROUP of line dancers in Southampton have raised £2,640 for the city's Rose Road Children's Appeal.

Members of the Sally Porter Line Dancing Group handed over a giant cheque to the charity after completing a two-hour sponsored event in February which involved 36 dancers.

Money was also raised by staging bring and buy sales and coffee mornings.

The line dance was the brainchild of part-time Daily Echo employee and line dancer Jan Peirson, 63, who works in the newspaper's shop at Hanover Buildings in the city centre.

Janice had already managed to raise about £3,000 for the charity over the past 18 months by staging bring and buy sales and coffee mornings at her Sholing home.

The latest effort means she has handed over more than £5,000 to the charity to pay for much-needed equipment.

The cash will be used to buy new bed hoists for children and young adults helped by the charity - all of whom have profound disabilities.

The hoists, which cost £1,215 each, will be used at the charity's new Broadway Centre which suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage earlier this month when fire damaged the building.

Janice said: "I raised the money for Rose Road because it is local and because it helps children. I think people who have children who don't have disabilities are very lucky.

"Children like those helped by Rose Road and their parents need a lot of help."