A COUPLE who were touched by tragedy are helping the fight to prevent others suffering the same trauma.

Phil and Kath Burton began a family fundraising campaign following the death of their seven-and-a-half-month-old daughter, Julia, in 1978.

They have raised well over £10,000 to help fund research into cot-death - and plan to continue for the foreseeable future.

The couple, who live off Haxby Road, York, and who have two grown-up daughters, are determined to help find a cause for the mystery syndrome to prevent other families going through the same agony.

They started holding sales of bric-a-brac and soft toys and their car-boot sales have now become a fortnightly event. Mr Burton has been parachuting and has ridden from Land's End to John O'Groats for the cause.

"It began as something we felt we ought to do and now it's become like a hobby really," said Phil yesterday.

Anyone who wishes to donate soft toys or bric-a-brac can contact the Burtons at their off-licence, at 29 Fountayne Street, off Haxby Road, York.