CORONATION Street's Les Battersby has escaped his prison cell to reach St Edward's School fair in Darwen today to raise money for the school.

The soap favourite, 50-year-old Bruce Jones, will host an auction at the summer fair to raise much needed funds for the school.

Winifred Douglas, school fundraising co-ordinator, said: "It's fantastic that we can have someone like this coming to the school. He's a friend of one of our non-teaching assistants, Sharon Randles, and she asked him to come along."

Members of the public are invited to attend the event, which will include an auction with a chance to bid for signed Rovers merchandise, a signed Daniel O'Donnell CD and GMTV goodies sent by Eamon Holmes.

The theme of the fair, Viva Espana, encourages people to dress in traditional Spanish outfits.

Mrs Douglas continued: "We have a lot of people supporting the event and we hope it's going to be a really fun day for everyone involved. So many small local companies have helped out and we would like to thank all of them, including parents and children, for getting involved."

Scripts from Corrie as well as signed photographs from Yorkshire drama Heartbeat will be up for auction.

The fair starts at 6.30pm.