KIND-HEARTED staff at First Bus will be flexing their muscles on Sunday in aid of a seriously-ill youngster.

A team of drivers will be pulling a bus, which weighs 7 tonnes, from Hill Cot Road all the way along Blackburn Road in Astley Bridge to raise money for research into Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva.

FOP turns the soft tissue and muscle in the body to bone until a second skeleton forms.

As reported in the BEN, three-year-old Luciana Wulkan, of Hill Cot Road, suffers from the condition and her parents Sandro and Pina hope to raise as much money as possible for research into the disorder which affects only 200 people worldwide.

The team of bus drivers, under the leadership skills of Dave Diggle and Alan Smethurst, hope to have raised £5,000 by the end of next month after holding a wide variety of charity events throughout the year.

They have held a cabaret night at the Bus Club which raised £1000, ran a 24-hour pool competition in The Lever Arms in Darcy Lever, organised a BBQ and fun day at The Volunteer in Darcy Lever and even donned fancy dress for a rounders contest against the Indian Club, also in Darcy Lever.

Following the bus pull, they will be holding another cabaret night and BBQ at the Bus Club in Crook Street. Anyone is welcome free of charge.

The event starts at 7.30pm and will include an auction of Manchester United memorabilia and a raffle with first prize of £500 towards the cost of any holiday donated by Peter Gastall of P&R Pointing Contractors in Farnworth.