THERE were hair-raising antics across the region as Comic relief's Red Nose Day was celebrated in style.

Even the Bishop of Bradford the Right Reverend David James joined in with the antics at Ilkley Grammar School.

His tour of the area coincided with Comic Relief day so he was prepared and donned a curly yellow wig.

Publicity officer at the school Lesley Butcher said: "The Bishop was such a good sport.

"I warned him in advance that it was Big Hair Day so he brought along a wig.

"It was a brilliant day and the bishop was so impressed by the students and the atmosphere that he stayed longer than planned."

The staff joined in including the Head teacher Gillian James and a total of £1,042 was raised.

And style was thrown out the window in the name of charity when Addingham Primary School went wild with their hair too.

Wigs, glitter and hair dye galore - and that was just the staff!

Parents were also invited to a special reception class assembly, only to find they had to pay to leave.

School administrator Jean Turnbridge said: "It was a very high day. The children had a lovely time. It all went very well and we raised £215.88."

Manor Hair Fashions in Ilkley gave their customers a shock when stylist Jane Good sported a mohican for the day.

Ms Good said: "I was nominated by my boss to have my hair like David Beckham so I said if enough money was raised I would wear the Manchester United kit as well. The customers loved seeing me like that."

Jane's hair - usually blonde- was transformed into a dramatic style and dyed black and red. But she confessed it was all washed out the same day.

Nevertheless her efforts raised £350 for Comic Relief.

Good Paul Cope got more than a red nose for Comic Relief last Friday when he spent ten hours in a bath of raspberry jelly.

He'd been sitting there so long that his body turned red too!

But it was all worth it of course - Paul's incredible effort raised £700 for charity.

The event took place at Dragon's Health Club in Yeadon.

Paul agreed to stay in the bath that was placed in the reception area of the club for as long as fellow members gave him money.

Club manager Karen Allister said: "I don't think he realised he would be there that long. He's an absolute star. He remained cheerful throughout even though it must have been pretty cold in there. We kept taking him food and drinks and in the evening we took him a television to watch so he didn't get too bored."

Club Energy in Otley also joined in the Red Nose Day spirit with a bit of revenge!

Club members paid £1 to see a member of staff put through their paces. Throughout the day staff had to run for 5 minutes on the 'stepper' on the hardest level, slog for miles on the treadmill and a variety of other strenuous tasks.

Leanne Hodgetts of Club Energy said: "It was really good fun but very hard work. All members of staff were booked for the whole day so it was very tiring. But we raised £178.58 so it was worth it."

Meanwhile pupils at the Whartons Primary school, Otley went wild with style - or lack of it as the school hosted a bad-hair day.

Gel, spikes, plaits and hair-dye were the order of the day, and even the staff joined in.

School Administrator at the Whartons, Andrea Brookes said: "The children seemed to enjoy themselves. We asked them to donate only small change as they seem to get a lot of requests for charity. We raised £166 so that is pretty amazing."

Benton Park School in Rawdon raised a whopping £700 thanks to five teachers being 'gunked'.

Pupils who raised £50 or over had the pleasure of seeing their teacher covered in a mixture of baked beans and tomato soup.

Coordinator of the events at Benton Park Mr Dewhirst said: "We had a lot of smaller events going on - we had a pupil stay silent for a whole day; a girl who wore as many ties as she could; and the languages staff dressing in national dress of their subject's country - so we had a few flamenco dancers from the Spanish department and what looked like the cast of 'Allo Allo' from the French department.

But not surprisingly it was the 'gunking' that raised most of the money as well as from the red noses we sold."

TEACHERS were put to shame during Hawksworth School's very own version of The Weakest Link held on Friday to raise funds for Comic Relief.

Ten-year-old Annabel Pryke took on Anne Robinson's role of fearsome quizmaster to put five of the Hawksworth teaching staff through their paces with the help of The Weakest Link question book.

Hawksworth secretary, Linda Hartley, said: "The whole day was brilliant, everybody loved it including the parents who came in to watch. Annabel asked some very hard questions.

"As well as that, we had activities going on all day like an eating Maltester's with chopsticks competition and sponsored silences. Some pupils were tied together all day as well."

More than £300 was raised in total although the exact figure is yet to be calculated.