Hundreds of dancers from performance schools across the district will be donning their tap shoes to take part in a relay tapathon' for charity.

Twenty dancing schools featuring people from three to 83 will keep tapping between 10am and 4.30pm on Sunday, January 20, to raise money for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

Roy's widow Fiona Castle will attend the event at Halifax's North Bridge Leisure Centre.

Taking part this year will be the Gainsborough Stage School and Kath's Tappers from Bradford, and the Janet Austin Tappers and Elwyn School of Dance from Brighouse.

Schools from Elland, Lightcliffe, Mirfield, Buxton, Huddersfield, Halifax, Marsden and Ripponden will also be joining in.

The Gainsborough Stage School has been running for eight years and has taken part in the tapathon several times.

Paula Kelly, who runs the dance school, said: "We have about 40 people who take part, the youngest is three and the oldest is 70.

"When we give the children the sponsor form and tell them what they are raising money for they all think it's for a good cause and try to collect as much as possible."

The event is marking its 12th anniversary and has raised £123,000 for the fight against lung cancer.

The money is used for research into detection, stop-smoking programmes, particularly involving children, and support for those already affected by the disease, their carers and specialist medical and nursing staff.

The charity was set up in the name of entertainer and dancer Roy Castle who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992 and who died from the disease in 1994.

A lifelong non-smoker, he adopted a positive attitude to his illness and courageously devoted much of the last year of his life to promoting the work of the charity.