A COUPLE whose daughter died just 24 hours after being born are celebrating after being told they are to become parents again.

Sara and Jason Ashton, of Cornelian Street, Blackburn, made their special announcement at a fundraising evening held in memory of Angel Louise, who died in May last year.

Angel Louise's death is believed to be linked to pre-eclampsia, which is a complication of pregnancy caused by a defect in the placenta and is responsible for the deaths of 500 to 600 babies in the UK every year.

Sara, 26, a social services manager at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said she was now 12 weeks pregnant.

She said: "We are absolutely over the moon, it has really made our year.

"We didn't want to say anything too soon, but we told people at the charity event. It was the perfect night."

Jason, 34, took centre-stage at the night, putting his skill as a full-time Elvis impersonator to good use. He is now also training to go into midwifery, inspired by staff at the hospital.

The night was held at the Orchard Working Men's Club, Whalley New Road, Bastwell.

Money from the night will go to the neo-natal unit at Queen's Park Hospital, where Angel Louise and Sara were treated.

Sara said: "We hoped to raise £2,000 on the night but in the end, raised £2,500. It went better than we could imagine.

"So many people said they'd be there and looking around the room, we didn't think to ourselves that people were missing.

"A lot of local businesses donated prizes for the raffle. It really meant a lot to us that so much money was raised.

"The staff at the hospital did such a good job while I was in hospital, they looked after us so well, that we felt we had to do something."

Angel Louise was the couple's first child, and now the couple are planning a cheque presentation to mark their fundraising efforts. Sara said: "We would like to thank everyone for helping us hold this night. It has meant a lot to us to be able to do something like this."