POPPING a penny into a parking meter when the car is not yours is something most people would not even think of doing, but for one woman it's normal behaviour.

Civil servant Clare Barwise, 25, is a member of the newly formed Karma Army, an unusual cult dedicated to performing 'random acts of kindness'.

On Sunday, November 16, Clare, of Vine Street, Preston, will join other do-gooders in Manchester city centre to hand out chocolates and lottery tickets to passers-by as part of the group's latest good deed stunt.

"It's just about being nice," said Clare. "There's always so much bad in the world it's good to redress the balance."

Kind-hearted Clare has been a member of the Karma Army for three weeks after reading about the international collective on the internet.

She was instantly hooked and started to bag up sweets to take to work and gathered all her loose change together to put into parking meters.

"I like doing good things like taking sweets into work and if I have any spare change I think nothing of putting it in someone else's parking meter to save them money," said Clare.

But although the phenomenon has attracted celebrity attention from the likes of TV comedian Dave Gorman, who based one of his shows on carrying out good deeds, Clare has still not managed to persuade boyfriend Aaron Hirst, 25, to join the group.

"I'm working on him though," said Clare.

The Karma Army will be meeting at Manchester's Printworks building at 1pm where they hope to release rubber ducks in a nearby fountain.

Log onto www.join-me.co.uk to find out more.