CHARITY football teams are to take to the field to help a girl with a chronic eating disorder.

Four-year-old Annie Jones, from Normanby, Middlesbrough, suffers from infantile anorexia, which means she has to be force fed through a drip.

Her condition, which doctors say is psychological and not medical, is unlike adult anorexia, because the sufferer does want to eat - they simply cannot face it.

It is thought Annie's condition stems from the difficulty adjusting to solids when she was a toddler.

Her mother, Lisa Jones, of Bexley Drive, is now saving towards a target of £80,000 needed for specialist treatment in Baltimore, near Washington DC, in the US.

It is hoped a team, including psychologists and speech therapists, will have her eating normally after an eight-week intensive course.

Fundraisers, including friends of the family, have got together to organise a charity football tournament at the Eston Recreational Ground, in South Bank, Middlesbrough, tomorrow.

Kicking off at 3pm, the teams will compete for a trophy donated by Classic Trophies, of Middlesbrough.

Mrs Jones said: "What everyone is doing is wonderful. She really needs to have this treatment before she is six, because after that age children's eating habits are set for life.

"We need between £60,000 and £80,000 for this treatment and this football tournament will help.

"Since Annie has been diagnosed, so many people have come forward to help organise fundraising events. We are ever so grateful to them."