A PAIR of bingo pals, who ditched their unhealthy diets to run the London marathon, have set a new target of £30,000 for charity.

Neighbours Amanda Townsend, 32, and Karen Brayshaw, 40, nicknamed "the fat birds", and both of Siddows Avenue, Clitheroe, have raised their sights after being asked to do their own weekly column in a national woman's magazine.

The pair will donate money raised to the Marie Curie cancer charity, and are seeking more support from Ribble Valley folk.

Amanda said: "We raised more than £1,000 in the first three weeks, so we decided we would be able to do more than our original target of £2,000 each."

Karen, who works for Ribble Valley Community Transport, has given up smoking 20 cigarettes a day and said that is what has really helped her.

She has shrunk from a size 28 to a size 16, while Amanda who plays bingo with Karen at Blackburn's Gala Club, now weighs 19 stone, losing a total of three stones so far.

Karen, who has just been in hospital to have her gall bladder removed, said being off her feet for a few weeks will not stop her determination to train for the run next April.