A GROUP of imprisoned businessmen stunned shoppers with a daring "jailbreak" in Bolton town centre yesterday - all in the name of charity.

The five-strong fundraising team spent the morning locked behind bars in a six-foot square cell on Victoria Square in a bid to raise money for a national charity for young wheelchair users.

The willing "inmates" had to use mobile phones to ring business contacts and colleagues to collectively raise £5,000 before they would be set free.

Jail-keeper for the day was organiser of the event Stephen Marley, director of Wigan-based Corlett Electrical suppliers.

The "prisoners" were all business contacts of the 36-year-old, who also spent time in the cell. They included Steve Barton, of Bury air-conditioning supplier Norwest Environmental, Tony Tickle of Bury interactive media firm The Tickle Group, Dave Hawksworth from Bolton-based electrical firm Newey and Eyre and Dave Griffiths of Bury builders Ellis Timlin & Co.

People pledged money to a dedicated phone line and email address, which had been set up specially for the event, and by the end of the morning the target sum had been raised.

Mr Marley and his colleagues at Corlett Electrical set out at the beginning of the year to raise £10,000 for the Whizz-Kidz charity, which provides wheelchairs and mobility aids for disabled children.

Mr Marley said the money raised from yesterday's event would go a long way toward reaching this target.

He added: "We thought this was a novel and fun way to raise money, and it's definitely brought attention to the charity in Bolton.

"We chose Whizz-Kidz as it is a relatively small charity for a very valued cause. We had originally hoped to hold the event in a police station. But when we realised it wouldn't be possible, the next best thing was to use a cage in a public place to draw attention to what we were doing."