Keighley councillor Jan Smithies and friend Kath Lyons have raised £700 for the Telegraph & Argus Bradford Crocus Cancer Appeal by hosting two gourmet dinner parties.

Coun Smithies said the first dinner was so successful that they booked Laycock Village Hall for a bigger follow-up event.

She said: “We made everything from scratch from canapes on arrival to a home-made chocolate selection at the end.

“People were very generous and many gave us more than the suggested donation of £20.”

Coun Smithies, who lives in Braithwaite Village, said that both she and Kath had seen people close to them go through chemotherapy in the past year.