Children In Need cash rolls in

The BBC's Children in Need Appeal celebrated the milestone with a seven-hour marathon broadcast on TV and radio a week ago - and, at £12m, the total so far beats 1999 by a cool £1m.

But, with pledges yet to be added to the count, the final figure could soar to around the £20m mark.

Celebrities from the pop world, soap stars and even newscasters let their hair down in front of the cameras last Friday for a night of madness and mayhem for charity.

And, around the country, people from all walks of life arranged money-spinning events to boost the total further.

Today, co-ordinator Martina Milburn said: ''We thought we would be lucky if we reached £10m but to raise £12m is fantastic.''

And the north east contributed its fair share; Richmond Castle in North Yorkshire was the focus for live TV link-ups from the region this year where pledges totalled £354,154.

But, for one nine-year-old from Catterick Garrison, Children in Need was a night of disappointment. Rachael Parker was among the members of the Richmond Dance Centre who had their hair done, rehearsed their act and, despite the cold, were waiting in the wings in summer dresses for their big moment.

But, with seconds to go, they were told they would not be able to perform for the crowds after all. In a letter to The Northern Echo, Rachael wrote: ''As children, we wanted to help other children in need. Instead, we left in tears.''

Producer, Jim Knight, said the team ''bitterly regretted'' that anyone had left disappointed. ''The problem was that a banner hung from the castle tower had been blown loose by the wind and to have allowed anyone on stage at that point would have meant putting them in danger. Unfortunately, the slot allocated to Rachael's group was within the 15 minutes it took to rectify the problem and there simply wasn't the time in the schedule to include them.

''We are sorry she was upset and I will be writing to both Racheal and her family to apologise,'' he added.