A SPONSORED head shave helped raise funds for the Christie Hospital.

Ex-soccer player Dennis Smith bravely endured a head and moustache shave at the Bongs Tavern in Tyldesley. It left him with a pate as smooth as the footballs he used to kick around but enabled him to present a cheque worth £1,000 to the hospital which specialises in cancer treatment.

Other Tyldesley pubs also raised money for the cause.

Bongs Tavern landlady Anne-Marie Rawlinson said: "We're glad to have been able to help support a worthy cause. I think everyone knows someone who has been in Christie's. My father has been treated there, although he has now recovered.

"I would like to say a big 'thank you' to Dennis and everybody who helped raise money."

Pictured (from left) Carl Sharpe receives the cheque on behalf of Christie's from Anne-Marie Rawlinson and her father, former Tyldesley publican Brian Trowbridge, who was a patient at Christie's. PT