MORE than 30 daredevils walked barefoot across hot coals to raise about £5,000 for a hospice's planned inpatient unit.

St Cuthbert's Hospice, in Durham, wants to raise £1.3m through its Key Appeal, which is backed by The Northern Echo, to build the £3.2m centre in its grounds in the Merryoaks area of the city. Its fourth annual fire walk, held in the Market Place on Wednesday night, attracted 34 men and women who safely crossed a 20ft carpet of burning embers.

All the participants were given a two-hour motivational talk beforehand to help them overcome their fears.

The first to complete the walk, to cheers from about 200 spectators, was Tony Donnelly, 37, of Langley Park, who is service manager at the city's Milburngate Shopping Centre.

He said: "It was no problem. I did not feel any heat at all. My heart was pumping too much. There was too much adrenalin.

"I decided to do it because the hospice is a good cause. I fancied a crack at doing a fire walk and it is now something I have done."

Hospice fundraiser Caroline Broadfoot said there were ten more participants than for the fire walk in March last year.

She said: "It is the best turnout we have had. It has been very well supported. The walkers made it look so easy.

"We would like to raise about £5,000, and it looks as though we will do that. A lot of the people who did it never thought they could.

"Doing it has given them an enormous sense of satisfaction.''