ENVELOPES commemorating Durham's adopted warship are being sold to raise money for the city's hospice.

They have been produced by hospital pathology laboratory worker Hazel Ramsay, who sailed on HMS Invincible from London to the Tyne.

The envelopes, known as covers, bear a small map showing Greenwich and North Shields, the ship's crest and a drawing of an aircraft and a stamp designed for the cruise.

Mrs Ramsay has produced 200 of them, 40 of which have been signed by Captain Neil Morisetti and bear the ship's postmark.

She won the trip on the aircraft carrier's journey north in an auction at the Mayor of Durham's ball and designed the covers on computers.

St Cuthbert's Hospice has launched its Key Appeal to raise £1.3m for a £3.2m extension to provide round-the-clock palliative care.

"I'm hoping to make a few hundred pounds for the appeal,'' she said. "It was the mayor's charity and is also the adopted cause of Invincible. Also it is a very good cause,'' she said.

The covers cost £5 for the signed versions and £2 for the others. Anyone interested should send cheques for the correct amount with a self-addressed envelope, six-and-a-half by four-and-a-half inches, to Mrs Ramsay at 103 Grinstead Way, Carrville, Durham, DH1 1LY.