STAFF at a York lingerie shop are celebrating after raising hundreds of pounds for breast cancer research.

Staff at Leia Lingerie in Spurriergate carried out fundraising in store and via social media all throughout October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

They raised £201 for Breast Cancer Now, a charity making life-changing breast cancer research and support.

But that is not all.

The company is also home to bra banks, where customers can donate bras - some of which go to women in developing countries - and which also raise funds for breast cancer research.

Leia Lingerie, which first opened in 2006, started a bra bank at its Spurriergate shop to collect bras for Against Breast Cancer, a charity that recycles bras, preventing them going into landfill and giving them a new lease of life in developing countries.

Any bras that are reusable are given a new lease of life in countries such as Togo, Ghana and Kenya, where bras remain expensive to produce locally.

Bras that are beyond redemption are dismantled and disposed of properly, preventing them heading to landfill.

Finally, vital funds raised from this scheme go towards breast cancer research.

For every tonne of bras collected, the Against Breast Cancer charity receives £700 to fund its research

Allie Wilson, recycling and customer service manager for Against Breast Cancer said: "For another year running the support of Leia Lingerie, their customers and members of the public has been outstanding with the bra recycling.

"To date, they have collected a whopping 200Kg of bras and raised £140 for vital research into secondary spread breast cancer.

"If you are local to York, please do pop into to see the lovely staff and donate your unwanted bras."