Organisers of the saucy alternative WI calendar estimate they have raised around £27,000 in the seven days since its launch in Cracoe near Skipton.

Hundreds of envelopes requesting copies have arrived at the homes of the 11 women. The first 3,000 copies - at £5 each - have been snapped up and advance orders expected to total around £12,000 have also been taken.

Ian Stewart, whose wife Tricia features in the calendar where the women appear naked apart from strategically placed household items, said: "It's gone better than in our wildest dreams. I can see the money we raise easily getting into six figures if it carries on like this.

"We're getting letters with the orders, many from women. One 52-year-old said the calendar had helped her feel better about herself.

"She said that at 52 she realised she was just as beautiful as she was when she was younger."

He said requests have come from throughout the UK, from Europe and Canada and are still pouring in.

Mr Stewart said they were already making arrangements to print another 10,000 copies and possibly even more.

The calendar has been published to raise money for Leukaemia Research and in memory of former Yorkshire Dales National Park officer John Baker, who lived in Cracoe and died last year in his early 50s.

Tricia Stewart, Linda Logan and Angela Baker, John's wife - who all appear on the calendar - were due to travel to London today to feature on yet another television programme, Thames TV's Living Room.

The Rylstone and District WI calendar, which was launched at the Devonshire Arms, Cracoe, is available from Jennings Brewery Shop, The Castle Brewery, Cockermouth, Cumbria, CA13 9NE, by sending £5 plus £1 for postage.

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