FOUR teenagers gave up their freedom yesterday to raise money for the tsunami fund.

The youngsters, all pupils at the Allertonshire School, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, were handcuffed together in pairs for the whole school day.

North Yorkshire Police officers went to the school at 8.30am to put the cuffs on, then again at 3.30pm to remove them.

Sarah Adamson, of South Cowton, and Harriet Henderson, of Little Fencote, spent the day chained together, as did Ailish Breen, of Northallerton, and Laura Turner, of Thornton-le-Beans.

Although the girls, who are all 13, are in the same form, they have different lessons and were forced to make a difficult decision about which classes to go to, and which to miss.

They were sponsored by family members and classmates and hope to have raised about £150.

The school also held a non uniform day in aid of the fund.

Offenders dig deep

YOUNG offenders have gone on the run to raise money for victims of the Asian tsunami.

Eight inmates and three staff at HMYOI Deerbolt, in Startforth, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, took part in a five-mile run yesterday to raise money for the disaster appeal.

The run involved 20 laps of a circuit within the prison yard - and more than £1,000 has been pledged in sponsorship.

The prison also held a sports day, with two football matches between offenders and officers, and offenders paid £2 to take part in a sports hall and weight training sessions.

It is hoped this will bring the total amount of money raised to more than £1,500.

Inmates donated an average of £5 each out of their weekly wages, which average between £10 and £12.

Prison officer Alan Baines said: "There has been so much coverage of the disaster, the lads have really taken it to heart and wanted to do something.

"This was an idea of one of the lads and they've put in a lot of effort."

Soldiers' fancy maneouvres

SOLDIERS in the region dressed up as nurses and cartoon characters to raise money for the tsunami disaster appeal yesterday.

Thousands of Army and civilian personnel at bases in North Yorkshire put on fancy dress costumes.

At Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, on-the-spot charges were levied on the most inappropriately dressed soldiers.

At the Imphal Barracks, in York, one soldier dressed up as Fred Flintstone, while others chose pixie and retro 70s costumes.

All ranks were encouraged to dress up and paid a minimum £1 for the privilege.

All proceeds raised during the day will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee for the Asian tsunami appeal.