WITH a month to go before East Lancashire fundraisers put their hiking boots to the test, sponsored walk organisers for the Magic Eye Appeal are calling for more action.

A special hotline was set up to get people registered on any one of the six mass walks around East Lancashire, planned for October 13.

And in the first two weeks since the hotline was opened, more than 206 people are signed up for the Blackburn walk, 82 for the Hyndburn hike and more than 73 for the Ribble Valley ramble.

Just under 80 people are registered on walks in Pendle (180, Rossendale (17) and Burnley (47).

In a bid to increase support for the fund-raising in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale a new appeal office has been opened in Burnley, based at Trust headquarters, Burnley General Hospital, Casterton Avenue, Burnley, BB10 2PQ, telephone 01282 474531.

More people are needed to help achieve the hoped-for total of £50,000-plus from the event to help buy the endoscopic ultrasound scanner which will benefit the whole of East Lancashire with the quicker diagnosis of stomach and oesophagus cancer.

Ian Woolley, chairman of the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Trust, said: "The organisation for these walks has been tremendous and now it is down to people coming along and having a brilliant fun day in aid of charity."

All six walks are around 10 miles and will contribute to one of the largest events for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph appeal which hopes to raise £200,000 for the equipment.

Junior walks are also mapped out for youngsters and families.

Maureen Thornhill, of Bolton Road, Abbey Village, is doing the walk in memory of her father, Ronald, who died aged 57 from throat cancer.

She said: "My father would have been 70 on the date of the walk and although I have never done anything like this before, my father did a five mile walk before he died, so it is a good way to remember him."

Group entries have been received from the Haematology and Chemotherapy Unit at Burnley Hospital. And ABS Fitness Group in Emerald Avenue, Blackburn, headed by Barbara Murray, have signed up 20 people for the walk.

She said: "You never know when you are going to need it and as a group we like to do things to help. We all try and keep fit but it should be really good fun. What ever we get we are grateful for."

The Refreshment Bar in Northgate has signed up 12 people to swap their aprons for anoraks.

And Marina Sears, 26, of Revidge Road, Blackburn, is committed to the walk to help consultant surgeon David Chang, who will be using the equipment, after he helped save her father's life.

She said: "Mr Chang operated on my father in March and took his stomach away.

"He is fine now as long as he does not eat too much! I just wanted to help get the equipment for Mr Chang."

The sponsored walk hotline is open five days a week from 10am to 4pm on 01254 293634.