FEARLESS Felicity Harding sank her teeth in to a bit of fund raising yesterday (August 23) by swimming in a tankful of sharks!

Student Felicity, 19, from Freckleton, fulfilled a lifetime ambition at Blackpool's Sea Life Centre in a bid to raise cash for Preston hospital's Rosemere Cancer Unit.

She is an experienced diver who is studying marine biology at Bangor University, and saw the dive as an exciting opportunity to study the "bad boys of the sea" at close quarters.

"I've always been fascinated by sharks," explained Felicity. "To share a tank with them was a once-in-a-lifetime experience." Partnered by Sea Life shark keeper Doug Don (pictured with Felicity), she dived with a number of different types of shark -- many up to nine feet in length, including a White Tip called Willy who gets cross if he's not the centre of attention!

Currently working as a care assistant at the cancer unit, Felicity is being sponsored for the Rosemere Cancer Foundation -- the charity which supports Preston's cancer unit.

All cash raised will help fund projects which are of benefit to cancer sufferers throughout Lancashire and Cumbria. Sue Thompson, from the Rosemere Cancer Foundation, said: "I think Felicity is very brave and I think it's probably something most people would want to do if they had the nerve.

"We all wish her very well in the future as Felicity has been a supporter of this unit since it opened in 1997."