FIREFIGHTERS from one of the region's airports took part in a fundraising event yesterday to raise money for a charity in support of a long-serving colleague.

The team, from Teesside Airport, was in Yarm and Stockton for a sponsored bed push, collecting funds for the Butterwick Hospice.

The event, organised by leading firefighter Colin Hutchinson and colleague Stuart Elliott, was inspired by Bob Reed, who served with the airport fire section for nearly 19 years and has been cared for at the hospice recently.

A team of 12 firefighters, together with "patient" Angela Preston, customer services agent at the airport, began the day at the Blue Bell pub, in Eaglescliffe, and raised money in Yarm in the morning. The bed, donated by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust, was then moved on for further fundraising efforts in Stockton.