A CHARITY Valentine's ball organised by Rossendale friends raised £33,000 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

It is the fourth event to be arranged by the committee which has now raised nearly £100,000 for research into the disease, but it may be the last.

One of the organisers Maria Stansfield lost her sister Carmelina to breast cancer four years ago which is when the fund-raising began. Another committee member has also since lost a relative to the disease.

The first event was a male stripper evening at Marl Pits in Rawtenstall and from there they went on to organise glittering balls at the Dunkenhalgh in Clayton-le-Moors.

Maria, of Waingate Road, Rawtenstall, said: "The auction was a huge success. We had Prince Charles' autographed book on Highgrove and Bacup opera singer Sean Ruane auctioned himself to sing to someone on the evening.

"He eventually sang to Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson in the middle of dance floor for £1,500. She loved every minute of it."

Another lot was a week-stay in a luxury apartment in Marbella which was won by two people who agreed to pay £1,700 each and former Brookside actor John McArdle gave a chance to be an extra on his new series Merseybeat which was snapped up for £1,200.

Maria said: "If Carm had been looking down on the event she would have loved it. She would have whole-heartedly given us her support.

"At the moment I am not sure if we are going to have another event next year because it takes a lot of organising."