DESIGNER labels have put a Farnworth charity shop a cut above the rest. . .

But although it makes "dress sense" to seek out the designer bargains for weddings or special occasions from the shop, the town's shoppers have yet to be convinced.

And the manager of the Red Cross shop on Brackley Street is working to reassure locals that the famous up-market makes on its rails are the genuine article.

The outlet -- which has claims to be the poshest charity shop in the area -- has wedding dresses by Jeff Banks, outfits by Frank Usher, Jaegar, Alvi and Harvey Nichols.

But, as a result, gone are the cheaper rails of clothing, which in turn has lost the outlet its traditional charity shop customers.

Manager Julie Eastham is desperate to attract a whole new customer base to compensate.

She said: "I would hate to have to go back to the cheaper, more traditional charity shop image that we had.

"We are now in our sixth week of having this new image.

"The idea was planted in my mind when my daughter got married last year. The prices of things shocked me and I had to look all over for a mother of the bride outfit.

"I could not find anything.

"Now, it is about getting people in to realise just what good stuff we have in here.

"Young ones traditionally do not want to buy their wedding dress from a charity shop. But many of the Jeff Banks wedding dresses we have here have only been worn once by models.

"Others have been worn once by a bride, or not at all by women who have cancelled their weddings.

"This is surely better than the traditional way of hiring a dress for the big day. Those dresses will probably have been worn by many more people than that.

"Many of our other outfits have only been worn once, by guests at weddings. Again, there is little difference between buying from us, or using dress agency.

"We are also finding now, because we gone up market, people are beginning to donate better stuff.

"Shops in Cheshire and London have also donated some of their better stock and I am hoping this will continue.

"If all goes well we will be looking at getting in cocktail dresses in readiness for Christmas.

"A lot of people seem to be really happy with the way we have gone. There is a need and obviously our stock is more specialised than it used to be. As a result some of our old customers no longer come in.

"But there are six charity shops around us in Farnworth and this surely suits everyone better. This way we are selling something a little bit different."

Wedding dresses range from £50 to £200, and outfits from £10. Julie added: "The Frank Usher outfit is £50, but that would have cost hundreds originally."