KIND firefighters have once again rallied round to show their support for a little girl who is battling cancer.

Padiham Fire Station crew manager Laura Herdman has appealed for people to send nine-year-old Tia Taggart, as many cards for her birthday as they can.

Miss Herdman wrote: “Meet Tia. On March 17, Tia will be 10. Tia is battling a rare cancer and has been for over two years.

“Tia’s family would love you to send a birthday card as Tia isn’t wishing for much.”

Tia, who attends St John The Baptist RC Primary School in Padiham, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare type of cancer which affects bones or the tissue around bones, in October 2015, and has since undergone multiple sessions of radiotherapy.

Doctors warned her parents the cancers had a 50 per cent chance of returning even if they were wiped out.

In March 2016, firefighters from Padiham station, held a fundraising event at the town’s Tesco store, which saw crew members take part in a treadmill-athon.

And following the event, which raised more than £1,500 for the brave youngster, her mum, Gillian, said Tia had become a ‘little celebrity’ in her home town. Miss Herdman said: “We’ve done a lot for Tia in the past and she comes to the station and to all our events. We love her to bits.”

Tia’s family came up with the card idea to help celebrate her tenth birthday, after the little girl said she didn’t want a party this year.

And on a Facebook page set up by teachers at her school, called Jet Set Angels, staff had appealed for cards.

A statement read: “Hi everyone it’s Tia’s tenth birthday soon and we would like to make it really special for her as she’s been through so much.

“What we think she would really like is to receive as many birthday cards as possible with maybe a short message from yourself. We really think she would love this and it would make her feel very special on her birthday.”

Miss Herdman added: “Anyone who wants to drop a card off at the station is more than welcome to. We will make sure Tia gets them.”

Tia’s dad, Lee Taggart said: “It will be really nice for her to have as many cards as possible as she loves that kind of thing. If we can get 100 cards it would be fantastic and it will let her know that people are thinking about her,”

Anyone wishing to send a card to Tia should address it to Tia Taggart, 25 Herbert Street, Padiham, Lancashire, BB12 8RH.