CHARITY bosses are trying to trace relatives or friends of a man who left £20,000 in his will.

Ian Casson, who was originally from Blackburn but lived in Devon at the time of his death in November last year, has bequeathed the money to Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

The donation left volunteers puzzled as nobody in the team knew Mr Casson or anything about him.

Team leader Garry Rhodes was notified by Stephen’s Solicitors in Devon that Mr Casson had left the group the money.

The team is keen to trace somebody who could shed light on who Mr Casson was or why he decided to leave such a large sum of money to the charity.

Mr Rhodes said: “We were really surprised — we’re still trying to figure out who this man is.

“My first thought when I heard about the donation was ‘why is this person supporting us, who is he and what is his connection to us?’ It would be nice if we could find out.”

Bolton Mountain Rescue Team carries out rescues all across the West Pennine Moors, including the area surrounding Darwen.

The charity has brought in more than £2,000 from its collection boxes in the last year.

The team has 123 collection boxes in the area which have been filled to the tune of £2,066.

That figure was slightly down on the previous year but two of the boxes were stolen during the summer and the cash was never recovered.

The charity is trying to increase its number of collection boxes to 150 and has appealed for help in achieving this.

Anyone who knew Mr Casson or has any information about his bequest is asked to email tl@boltonmrt.org.uk