RED hair, red noses, baths of baked beans, custard pie fights . . . who said you can't have fun in the name of a good cause?

Traditionally, folk in the North-East are among the most generous when it comes to charity.

Yesterday's Comic Relief mayhem proved that to be the case once more.

Across the North-East and North Yorkshire, people in all walks of life, the young and the old, came together all in the name of a good cause.

In Darlington, Lesley Mattimo and Lesley Tutty, security guards at the town's Cornmill Centre, embarked on a mammoth hitch-hike to London to get into the Red Nose studio last night.

The pair set out at 10 am without any cash and hoped to get to London and back in 24 hours.

Mark Baldwin, one of Darlington Borough Council's benefit assessors, took part in a sponsored headshave at Toni and Guy hairdressers.

Male council staff dressed as women during a five-a-side football match at Eastbourne Sports Complex.

Richard Llewellyn and Richard Bryan, of Darlington mortgage company Amity, had their legs waxed in Binns Hair Salon and raised more than £150 for charity.

The Northern Echo raised £535 when advertising workers Andrew Park and Jason Wheeler had their legs waxed and staff paid to watch.

Staff at Orange in Darlington tested their three-legged racing skills, egg and spoon technique and sack racing speed to see who could raise the most money.

Meanwhile, staff at Orange's Peterlee call centre had the chance to entertain their colleagues by stepping up to the microphone in the comedy corner. They were joined by conga dancers in bean-filled wellington boots, space hopper racers and sumo wrestlers.

Three Hurworth School teachers and a year 11 pupil allowed year ten pupils to wax their legs.

And one of Eastbourne School's football team players had his legs waxed by acting headteacher Karen Pemberton.

In North Yorkshire, schools, pubs, councils, the Army and even big business all played their part.

In Northallerton, a group of eight senior managers from Hambleton District Council had a very bad hair day when their legs were shaved by their female counterparts.

Shortly afterwards, at the same venue, three lifeguards went through the same ordeal, with the help of staff from local beauty salon Merryweathers.

In Ripon, four soldiers from 38 Engineer Regiment spent the day walking round the city centre carrying 38lb packs on their backs. Their ten-hour marathon left them with blisters on their feet - but buckets full of cash.

At Thirsk School, head of PE Andy Rickard was smothered in baked beans, while other teachers took part in a messy bleep-test while carrying breakfast trays.

In Harrogate, Jeremy Pilkington, chairman of UK plant hire company Vp, and JCB boss Sir Anthony Bamford donned red noses as they launched a joint Comic Relief initiative. Vp subsidiary ukforks is to donate the first week's hire of a fleet of JCB telehandlers - about £6,000 - and Sir Anthony has agreed to match the sum pound for pound.

Staff at Northumbrian Water's head office at Pity Me, Durham, put team leaders and managers in the stocks and pelted them with wet sponges.

They also enjoyed the spectacle of team leader Joy Foster, from Ashington, Northumberland, bathing in a paddling pool of cold red jelly, for which she raised £130.

At Tesco, in Dragonville, Durham, activities included staff sitting in a bath of baked beans for 12 hours; while Coxhoe butcher and baker, Steven Burrell and Michael Snowball, staged a Creme Egg eating contest.

Youngsters in Derwentside joined councillors and environmental workers for a sponsored litter pick, with a prize being awarded for the craziest hairstyle.

Cartoonist Paul Slattery drew caricatures of shoppers visiting Middlesbrough's Hillstreet, complete with a red nose. The drawings were free, but shoppers were asked to make a donation to Red Nose Day.

Councillors Eric Jackson, Mayor of Redcar and Cleveland Council, and Brenda Forster let children at the Jack in the Box Day Nursery, in Loftus, east Cleveland, style their hair in aid of the appeal. The mayor ended up with a red wig and Mrs Forster with curlers in her hair.

Children attending a nursery at the University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, to Create a Jake's Hair Competition which challenged the children to make a wig.

Pupils were offered fantasy red nose monster cheesecakes and big hair do desserts at the Dyke House Secondary School, in Hartlepool. Hibernia Foods workers Linda Dolman and Paul Stockbridge worked with year ten pupils to prepare the Comic Relief desserts.

The day was a drag for maintenance engineers Colin Young and Fraser Shearer who turned up for their shifts at 3M Aycliffe, at Newton Aycliffe, in make-up and dresses. There were leg and back waxes, while Mike Wilson lost the moustache he has sported for 27 years.

In Bishop Auckland, customers and store managers at Asda had their heads shaved by stylists from the Elite hairdressing salon.

The town's Four Clocks Project collected a wall full of jokes, while bingo, a raffle and tombola and table-top sale raised money at the Dene Valley One Stop Shop, in Eldon Lane.

Tea and coffee were on the house at estate agents J W Wood, in Newgate, where staff served drinks to workers in neighbouring shops and offices.

Bishop Auckland College students launched a week of fundraising on Tuesday when students paid 20p to soak tutors and classmates.