BIRTHDAY balloons helped raise one little girl's hopes at a special birthday party.

Katie Scarlett McIntosh turned six on April 15, and shared her big day with friends from across the borough.

The youngster, of Scobell Street, Tottington, was diagnosed with autism after she suddenly stopped talking more than two years ago.

But her silence suddenly ended when she spotted balloons on a TV advert and got excited and began to shout.

Asda is helping the youngster by giving her their promotional balloons when they are finished with them. It was the idea of Katie's grandmother, Marlene Healey.

And when Cheerz, in Tottington, found out about Katie's love of balloons, staff at the shop decided to help make her birthday one to remember.

The event, held in the Elizabethan Suite at Bury Town Hall, gave Katie and her family and friends the chance to meet other young people with autism from across the borough.

Elaine Donaldson, from Cheerz, helped to organised the event. She said: "We got in touch with a group for autistic youngsters and invited them. We filled the entrance and the place with smiley balloons and even her cake was a smiley face.

"Autistic children do not like being out of their own surroundings, so we wanted to make the place as inviting as possible for them. The children enjoyed refreshments and party games before going home with a piece of the cake."