SEASIDE rock will be on the bar at a Bury pub in aid of charity.

Gill Thorogood, manager of the popular O'Neill's in Silver Street, has recruited a squad of sweet-tooth boffins to manufacture stout-flavoured rock, an adults-only sugary sensation that will help raise funds for the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB).

Gill said: "We've decided to turn Ireland's number one drink into a rock 'n' roll summertime sensation."

She says visitors can chomp their way to a fantastic time but jokes that O'Neill's should not be expected to arrange dental appointments when regulars finish eating the rock.

She has also specially commissioned a giant stick of stout-flavoured rock, measuring a stomach-grinding, jaw-busting, tooth-crushing 3ft in length. It will now be raffled off in a bumper prize draw that's open to all businesses in the Bury area. Proceeds will again go to the Royal National Institute of the Blind.

RNIB fund-raising manager Mike Tague said: "As well as keeping a lucky group of workers occupied from now until New Year, we're confident that the O'Neill's rock will help us raise vital funds for all our facilities and go a long way to helping the many local people who suffer from sight problems."

The RNIB campaigns on behalf of two million people with sight problems and provides help through imaginative and practical solutions to everyday challenges as well as with braille, talking books and computer training.