PEOPLE living with lung problems proved they"re "breathless not helpless" as they celebrated World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day with a tea dance.

The dance, held at Bury Town Hall"s Elizabethan Suite, was organised by Carol Headley, COPD service development co-ordinator for Bury Primary Care Trust, and included a DJ providing a variety of music to twirl to, red balloons cascading down onto the dancers and free tea and biscuits.

Special guests were the Mayor and Mayoress of Bury, Councillor Steve Treadgold and his wife Jean, who led the way onto the dance floor while a raffle raised funds for Breathe Easy Bury and District support group, the support network of the British Lung Foundation.

Bea Gilmore, secretary of Breathe Easy, said: "Carol worked very hard to organise the tea dance to show that the people of Bury who have COPD are breathless but not helpless."