THE Dean of Blackburn Cathedral will have a spikey hairstyle like Pop Idol's Gareth after an £11 bid in a fund-raising auction which brought in £1,050.

The Very Rev Chris Armstrong will have the cut by a teenager next Sunday.

Brunch with the bishop, a ride in a Porsche and the haircut all came under the hammer.

The auction at Blackburn Cathedral on Sunday raised the figure in 45 minutes for the Blackburn with Darwen joint Afghanistan appeal.

The Auction of Talents attracted crowds of people from all over East Lancashire seeking to bag a unique bargain.

Offers of ironing, a taxi service to the airport and a weekly loaf of bread for a month were all on offer.

The auction helped to swell funds for the Save the Children project in Harat, north-west Afghanistan.

The charity is working with 350,000 refugees trying to survive the winter without adequate shelter or sanitation.

The dean's wife, Gerry, said the auction went better than expected.

"The turn-out on the day was overwhelming and people were very generous with their donations and their bids."