FRIENDS of a tragic teenager who died from an epileptic fit more than a year ago kept her memory alive by completing a musical fundraising drive.

Friends of Pako Moholo, who attended St John's RC School, in Bishop Auckland, raised £700 for the Epileptic Research Foundation by hosting a show and selling CDs of the performance.

Pako, 16, from Ferryhill, died at her family home in February last year, following an epileptic fit earlier in the day.

Pako had been at the school for a year after her family moved to Britain from South Africa.

Her parents, Frank and Ruth, wanted a better education for her and her sister Bakang, 12, and brother Karabo, eight.

Her eight closest friends Matthew Todd, Lauren Kirkwood, Gemma May, Dean Waterworth, Laura Stuart, Steph Roddam, Lisa Liddy and Laura Taylor invited fellow pupils to take part in a musical they called the P Factor, marking the anniversary of her death.

Fifteen students were chosen to sing on stage, with Pako's mother and sister among the judges.

Songs sang in her memory included Fields of Gold by Sting and Since You've Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.

Tickets for the show cost £1 and a CD of the show cost £2.

The students handed the cheque over to Peter Jones, head of the paediatric and epilepsy clinic at Bishop Auckland General Hospital yesterday.

Mr Jones said: "Pako was my patient for six months and I think what the students have raised is fantastic. The Epileptic Research Foundation is an excellent charity with a great track record in funding and research."

Lauren, 16, said: "We thought a singing show would be a great way to remember Pako. She was only here a year, but made such a big impact. She was such a lovely girl."

Mrs Moholo said: "We are so grateful to the school for keeping her memory alive.

"Her spirit is still with us every time we come to the school thanks to the students and all their hard work."