The star-studded opening of a restaurant chain's new headquarters will help send a plane-load of terminally ill youngsters to Lapland to see Santa.

Members of the Emmerdale cast are set to attend a charity dinner and auction to mark the official opening of the Aagrah's new restaurant in Shipley.

And Chris Chittel, who plays Eric Pollard in the hit soap, will auction off donated prizes, including a day watching Emmerdale being filmed and lunch with the cast and crew.

Mohammed Aslam, managing director of the Aagrah Group of Restaurants, said he hoped the event next Thursday would generate more than £2,500 for the When You Wish Upon A Star charity which is planning to fly almost 100 terminally ill Yorkshire children to Lapland from Leeds-Bradford Airport just before Christmas.

He said: "The Aagrah and charity have always gone together and this is an extremely worthwhile cause.''

Dave Atkinson, Harrogate area fundraiser for the charity, said: "It is a marvellous gesture by the Aagrah and should be a great evening for all concerned.''

The Aagrah group has spent about £500,000 transforming the former Shipley Polar Ford car showroom on Saltaire Road into a 100-seat restaurant.

Its head office and central kitchens are also re-locating to Shipley from Pudsey as part of the scheme which is set to create about 20 new jobs.

Mr Aslam said the new headquarters would help spearhead the group's expansion plans, having enough space to service up to about 30 restaurants.

At the moment it has seven and is planning to open an eighth at Denby Dale in January.

Its existing Shipley restaurant on Westgate - the birthplace of the Aagrah in the 1970s - is due to close next Wednesday although no decision has yet been taken on the building's long-term future.

The charity opening - for which £25 tickets are still available - will be followed by a series of special dinners for Bradford Chamber of Trade members, the group's suppliers, local dignitaries and long-standing customers on October 26 and 27.

The new restaurant - which will be the chain's first to open on weekday lunchtimes - opens to the public from Sunday, October 28.