A bevy of barmaids and waitresses will be serving up a helping of charity cheer by taking part in this year's Race for Life.

The ladies all work for Castle Carvery restaurants in Sprowston, Bowthorpe, Caister and Oulton Broad, which are sponsoring them to take part.

Megan McClay, a waitress and barmaid at the Racecourse in Salhouse Road, Norwich, will be running in memory of her grandparents, who both died from cancer when she was just 15.

The 20-year-old, from Sprowston, said: 'I was brought up by my grandparents and both of them passed away really close together.

'The main thing about the Race for Life is finding the cure. A lot of charities help people deal with the cancer but finding the cure is the most important thing.'

As well as paying for the entrance fees and buying T-shirts for the 19 staff, the restaurant chain, which is part of Anglia Restaurants, will be donating £1 from the sale of every two-course carvery sold from its four sites on the weekend of the 5k races, which take place at the Norfolk Showground on Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18.

The ladies have been wearing their pink T-shirts at work, and generous customers have already donated £430 in just two weeks, while managers are hoping the money from the carvery deal will raise around £1,000.

Scott Gurney, operations manager for Anglia Restaurants, said: 'It's such a good cause and we felt that because we have so many girls working for us and because its a charity that is close to their hearts that we wanted to support them to do the run.

'The staff have been wearing their T-shirts while serving so it's helping to raise awareness. We have not been asking customers for donations but some people have donated as much as £20. Even just donating the left over change, such as 5p or 10p, is helping it all add up.

'With the £1 to be donated from the two-course carvery, based on other Saturday and Sundays at this time we think that it will raise around a thousand pounds, so we're aiming to raise £2,000 in total for Cancer Research UK.'