IF you've been lucky enough to get some new underwear this Christmas, there's no need to throw out your old bras just yet.

Fiona Lewis, owner of town shop Appliance Solutions, has a very personal reason to collect used bras for a cancer charity.

She lost her father to liver cancer when she was just 16, and now she likes to do what she can for cancer research, including setting up a “Drop Your Bras Off” campaign at her shop, to bring in as many old bras as possible.

A special pink collection box has pride of place in her store, off Bye Street, among the fridges, dishwashers and washing machines.

Miss Lewis said of her personal motivation: “I know I’m supporting a very worthy cause. As I child I grew up with my father, Bryn, always being poorly, and he died just after my 16th birthday.

I like to do what I can for cancer research.”

A company called BCR Global Textiles, which helps small businesses in Africa, will donate £1,000 to Breast Cancer Research for every tonne of bras collected, and the bras will help African women in a continent where the items are often too costly to buy or produce.