A HAIR-RAISING charity stunt which started out as a bet between two friends ended up raising £1,000 for a hospital maternity ward.

The charity challenge began with an idle chat between Gary Howlett and John Gibson in Newton Aycliffe Workingmen's Club.

Mr Howlett said: "We had a £5 bet that we wouldn't shave for a month and a few people overheard us and asked to join in.

"We ended up getting seven lads involved, it just snowballed."

Mr Howlett and Mr Gibson were joined by Michael Donnelly, Barry Davies, Alan Peacock, Malcolm Tidyman and David Bell, who all completed the challenge.

Mr Howlett said: "You don't realise how bad it is. It was all right for a week or ten days, but after that it was aggravating."

The men, now clean cut, donated the money raised from their challenge to the maternity unit at Bishop Auckland General Hospital, where many of their children were born."