Stars Wars stars in Norwich

The organisers of a special Star Wars event aimed at raising more than �5,000 for a Norfolk cancer charity said they were delighted with the public's response to their efforts over the weekend.

Gordon Barber Funeral Home is one of 30 businesses in the city that have pledged to raise �5,000 each for Big C Cancer charity as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations.

Lee Nelson, a funeral director at Gordon Barber, enlisted the help of the Norwich and District Star Wars Club to help them reach their fundraising target.

Mr Nelson, whose father-in-law Richard Walker is chairman of the Star Wars group, arranged for characters from the Star Wars films to come to the Mall over the weekend to have their pictures taken with members of the public in return for a donation to charity.

Kenny Baker, who played R2D2 in the Star Wars films, was originally due to be there but had to pull out at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances and was replaced by Alan Flyng, who played an Imperial officer and Stormtrooper in the films.

Mr Flyng and Alan Harris, who played Bossk, were joined by Stormtroopers and other characters from the space saga courtesy of the Norwich and District Star Wars Club's Heroes and Villains costume group.

Mr Nelson, who was with the Star Wars characters outside Argos over the weekend, said: 'We had a lot of interest and people were queuing up for photographs all day which was great.'

Mr Walker said: 'We were absolutely delighted with the support we had.'

As well as donations from members of the public, organisers also received support from a number of businesses in the area including Asda, Bennetts, the Early Learning Centre.

The picture shows Alan Flyng and Alan Harris with some of the characters from the films.