LEGENDARY Bolton steeplejack Fred Dibnah popped back into town from filming away from home to open a charity Christmas fayre.

The celebrity cut the ribbon at Bolton Hospice's annual event which was held at the Excel Centre, on Lower Bridgeman Street, and was attended by hundreds of people.

Fred said: "When I'm in town I do things for charity but I'm hardly here. I've been filming for a new television series up and down the country, from Southampton to Newcastle, looking at the work of great people like Robert Louis Stephenson."

The series has yet to be named but should be screened by the BBC in the spring. The Christmas fayre is the hospice's most popular event of the year and helps raise vital funds for the cancer charity. This year it had a Victorian theme and featured a spinner, Santa Claus, Bolton's Reindeer Band and dozens of stalls.

Sarah Garland, fund-raising administrator, said: "We are hoping to raise a lot of money from the event. It is one of the most popular ones."