PARRENTHORN High School pupils had a celebrity Christmas visit that was right up their street!

Coronation Street favourite Samia Ghadie, who plays hairdresser Maria in the soap, visited the Heywood Road school on Thursday to meet the youngsters.

The surprise visit was arranged by Year 10 head and head of drama, Debbie Shutter, as an end-of-term treat.

But Samia's visit had a serious tone to it, as she represented the Wallness Children's Charity, of which is a patron.

The actress was special guest at the school's annual charity assembly and spoke about a £1 million appeal to buy a pioneering baby scanner for local hospitals.

Each year, the pupils raise money for a variety of charities. Year 10 pupils chose the Wallness Children's Charity, which has a shop in Bury New Road, Prestwich.

Other charities to benefit were Compassion UK (Year 7), Beechwood Cancer Care Centre (Year 8), Francis House (Year 8), Kenya Child's Education Fund (Year 9), Christie Hospital/Cancer Research (Year 11).

Headteacher Arthur Francis said: "The pupils have been amazing. They raised £2,100 in just one week and the money is still coming in. Each year they choose their own charity and they decide how to raise the money."

Fund-raising activities included a slave auction, variety show, car wash, raffles and other games and sales.

Mr Francis added: "We only found out the day before that Samia was coming and the children were very excited. She was a popular guest and very good with the pupils. She was here for a couple of hours and stayed throughout the assembly. She stood up and told us about the scanner and thanked the pupils for their fund-raising."

Also at the assembly was retired teacher Mrs Brenda Foster whom Mr Francis described as a "leading light" in past charity collections.