A TOPLESS charity calendar has raised thousands of pounds for an appeal.

Last year, members of the Heighington Women's Institute produced a calendar in commemoration of its centenary.

The idea for the calendar began after the WI were visited by Carole Burn, who runs Prince Bishops Alpacas in Headlam, Darlington.

The ladies spent several days at the farm posing with alpacas for the shoot.

The calendars were sold in aid of the MRI Scanner appeal for Darlington and Bishop Auckland hospitals.

After selling out two print runs of 400 copies, Heighington WI raised £2,395 for the appeal.

As a thank you to Ms Burns, the ladies of the WI will be holding at 'Brunch@Heighington' event on Saturday April 27 for Woodlea School in Fencehouses, Ms Burns's chosen cause.

The brunch will be held at Heighington Village Hall from 9.30am until 12pm and will sell a selection of refreshments from cakes to bacon butties.

Karin Allison, chair of Heighington WI, said: "We're absolutely delighted with the money we raised and we want to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us by buying a calendar.

"And Carole was so good when we went to do the photo shoot that we wanted to do something to raise money for a charity of her choice."