Several women in a County Durham village hoping to help raise funds for charity are selling plates with painted images done not by their hands - but with their bare breasts.

Covering their breasts with paint, the women paint images of pandas, cherries, Christmas puddings and bumblebees on plates which are later glazed and fired

"We decided on Breast Cancer Care plates because we have a few customers who are going through breast cancer," said Joanne Scott of the Buttercups Ceramic Studio, in Hurworth, near Darlington. "You just want to do something to help. And this is a fun way to raise money for a good cause."

One of the women described an incident wherein a man walked in admiring one of her plates with a panda imprinted on it.

"One man came in and was admiring a panda plate I'd made the week before," a certain Mrs. Scott narrated. "He was asking lots of questions about it and I explained it was for Breast Cancer Care and I hadn't used my hands to paint it, but the penny still didn't drop."

"A few moments later, a look of recognition passed across his face and he just kind of went 'Oh!' and rushed out of the shop," she added.

"I think the poor man was a bit embarrassed."