A GRANDMOTHER raised hundreds of pounds for Bolton Hospice by running a marathon -- but then burglars broke into her home and stole all the sponsor money.

Diana Clutton, aged 57, successfully completed the gruelling London Marathon and raised £800 for the Hospice after being sponsored by friends, relatives and businesses.

But shortly after she had collected all the sponsor money her home was ransacked by burglars.

The grandmother of three said she returned home one evening to find the door was open and the lights were on in the house.

She added: "The back door had been kicked in and the TV was gone.

"My bedroom had been ransacked too. Of course I checked right away about the sponsorship money -- but it had been taken."

The break-in also left her two pet dogs, Chole and Sheba, traumatised and they have been very wary of people since.

Initially Diana panicked because she did not know if she would be able to prove to her insurers the amount of money she had raised.

Fortunately, she found all the sponsorship documents scattered over the floor and the insurers reimbursed her with the full sponsorship amount.

Caring Diana, who runs a boat hire business with her husband at their Chorley home, also devotes one morning a week to helping out on the hospice wards.

She decided to become involved with the hospice after she made a full recovery from breast cancer in 1996, following treatment at the Breast Clinic at Bolton Hospital.

"I was very lucky because it was caught early. I just wanted to do something for people who hadn't been as lucky. A lot of the volunteers have reasons like that for joining. It's been very rewarding."

It was also after her illness that Diana took up running and she has already completed the New York Marathon for charity.

"I was looking for something different to do after being ill. I wanted to try various things and make the most of my life and it was just something that I took to."

Nicola Mooney, secretary to the fund-raising department at Bolton Hospice, praised Diana's efforts: "We are very grateful that she ran the marathon for us. The amount she raised was superb."

CHARITY WORKER: Diane Clutton with her dog Chloe