POLICE swooped on a number of properties in Bishop Auckland - including a bank, a school and a high street store - and carried out four "arrests".

The arrests were in aid of a Butterwick Hospice event called Jail'em and Bail'em, where colleagues and customers had to raise £300 bail to release each of the innocent fundraisers.

Those arrested were Bruce Guthrie, headteacher of Bishop Barrington School; Susie English-Stewart, a marketing manager for SG Petch; Louise Gwin, a retail assistant at Argos; and Elaine Stafford, a financial planning manager at HSBC Bank.

Community safety officers PC Jeff Sawyer and PC Bill Smith went into each workplace to carry out the arrests, in front of surprised passers-by, and they were all freed when the bail was raised.

Mr Guthrie admitted that many of his pupils were perhaps more interested in winning an I-Pod that was raffled rather than his return to school, while at Argos, HSBC and SG Petch, employees and customers donated to the bail fund. HSBC pledged to double the amount of money raised at the bank.

Butterwick Hospice fundraiser Sylvia Stoneham said after the event: "It's gone really well. I didn't know what to expect but it is a cost- effective way to raise money, and fundraisers should be fun - and I think it certainly was for all involved."