A MAN who wants to give disadvantaged children a 'laugh on the house' before shutting up his joke and sweets stall has picked the group he will cheer up.

Malcolm Hargrave, of Portland Street, Darwen, will hand over the stock of sweets and jokes for free from his 'Trick or Treat' trailer to Barnardo's.

This follows an appeal made Lancashire Evening Telegraph several weeks ago for a group to come forward .

Malcolm took the stall to car boot sales across the Fylde Coast for over a year as a way of having fun and making money.

He took on the cart after quitting his position as a university lecturer at the Bolton Institute in June 1999.

He said that he needed to have a laugh to relieve the frustration he felt after 25 years as a technology teacher.

Now he feels he has got those eccentricities out of his system and is ready to move to the more conventional work as a property landlord.

And he sees the donation to Barnardo's at the Shadsworth Centre, Blackburn, next Tuesday as a happy ending to a light hearted venture.